The Chaos Crystal
by Sailor Kasterborous
Summary: The Doctor finds himself chasing after a crystal from another Universe, and the chase ends up making him run into past companions. What chaos will unsue?
1. Chapter 1 The Meteor's Landing

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

I've been absolutely PUMPED to write this for the past two months.

However, there's a few things you need to know first.

First off, this is actually a tri-crossover of Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, **but it is absolutely not required in any way for you to have watched more than just Doctor Who.**

Also, this is TECHNICALLY a sequel of my other story, "Lost Companions", **but again, it's not required for you to have read this.**

The only things you need to know that you don't already:

Rose is back in this Universe.

Donna has her memory back.

If those two details at all interest you, then read my other stories. BUT SERIOUSLY GUYS, IF YOU'VE GOTTEN THIS FAR, THEN **READ THIS STORY**. I don't like begging, but I've been so excited to write this. I don't think the plot will disappoint.

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><p>Space and Time rolled together, clashing, retreating, ensnaring and eventually reaching some form of a treaty as they spun, forced to be connected in the great, endless majesty of the Universe. They toiled as one, guardian of everything, protector of all that lay before them and worked around them. They adjusted to fix problems, shifted to avoid blips. The two would do anything to stop a crack in the Universe, or to keep a glitch from occurring.<p>

But some things can't be avoided.

There was an unstoppable tremble that both Time and Space experienced, and it shook them to their core. They were powerless to stop it as a shudder rippled through the Universe, and from it came something that shouldn't be there. It was small, it was purple, but what it looks like doesn't matter right now.

It seemed harmless. All it did was float in the empty space, studying the Universe it had been thrown into. It rolled through the majesty that was nothing, and then eventually seemed to make up its mind and began hurtling through space.

Time and Space watched this with infinite sadness, for there was nothing they could do. They wished in vain that they could reverse the appearance of the object, send it back from where it had come. But quickly their worries ceased as they saw they weren't the only ones who had noticed.

Far beneath them, on the planet Earth, someone was speaking.

"Mr. Smith, I need you."

Several miles away, a man in a trench coat was poised on a rooftop, watching the busy shopping street beneath him with an air of apprehension. In one hand he hand a walky-talky, buzzing softly, and in the other a hand held tracking deceive that was beeping, slow and rhythmic.

He lifted the walky-talky to his mouth. "Is he on the street yet? I'm seeing nothing."

There was a faint pause and then Gwen Cooper's disconnected voice crackled through. "Cool it, Jack. We've almost got him."

"Whatever it is that that guy's found," Captain Jack Harkness replied. "It's definitely alien. I'm not letting him get away."

"He's almost on your street," her voice said after several seconds. "Get ready."

"Always am."

"Alright you too, stop it," Rhys Williams' voice came through the two walky-talkies. "That's my wife, you know."

Jack sighed. "Everything I do is flirting these days," and then - "There he is!"

A tall, gaunt man in a black leather jacket was running down the street at breakneck speed, pushing others out of his way, something clutched to his chest. Seconds later an unassuming black van labeled, "Torchwood," spun around the corner, following in his destructive path.

"The crowd's getting thick again," Rhys said through the walky-talky. "Where is he, Jack?"

"At the four-way intersection up ahead. He's turning – right. It's a dead end."

He watched as the car screeched responsively in the same direction. He could see, indistinctly in the dark, the shapes of Gwen and Rhys lunging from the car and running to the man. He saw him vault over the brick wall, but in the process the alien package fell from his grip and Gwen picked it up.

Seconds later, her voice huffed into the walky-talky: "He got away, but we-"

"Got the thing, I know." he said. "Take it back to base, I'll be there soon."

"Got it." He watched to make sure they got in the car, and then began shimmying off the side of the building, planning to climb down. As he was pocketing his walky-talky, however, his tracking device suddenly began beeping loud and fast, in an urgent, dangerous kind of way.

Jack held it up to his face and frowned. It was trying to alert him of something several miles away, something alien. He honed in on the signal – it appeared to be a fallen meteor of some sort. "Get it in the morning," he mumbled to himself, still frowning.

With a sigh, he lunged off the building.

Lights whirred and flashed as the TARDIS console splayed with color and Gallifreyan symbols. Nebula of light gurgled across the screen and flashed away. A tracking device flared on the screen, showing a fallen meteor, several miles outside of Cardiff.

"Hmm," the Doctor said meditatively as he watched the screen. "Well now _you_, you are an odd one." He poked the console on the place where the meteor was. "How is it that you can land without making a single sound? There was barely even an impact. Impossible for anything but alien technology to trace you. So _what are you_...?"

He ran a scan of the area, furiously punching buttons and twisting knobs, all the while his eyes never leaving the console. His trusty TARDIS, however, had no explanation for what the meteor was. "C'mon on girl," he asked it plaintively, soft green eyes flickering across the screen.

Nothing.

He watched the red dot, the meteor, with an unreadable expression and finally muttered to himself:

"At least I know what I'm doing tomorrow."

The next morning, Rani Chandra let herself in to Number 13 on Bannerman Road using the key kept in one of the flower pots. She closed the door behind her and turned to see Clyde Langer lounging on the couch in the front room, pencil in one hand and drawing book in the other.

"Hello, Clyde," she said, grinning as she abandoned her bag on the chair next to him.

"Hi," he looked up from the drawing. "Glad it's the weekend, right?"

"Yeah. Where is everyone?"

"Didn't you hear?" he frowned slightly as he put his drawings on the coffee table in front of him. "Luke's back at school, and Sky went with him to tour the campus. She literally learned everything at our school overnight, what with that super alien brain of hers. She wants to study electrical engineering, can you believe it? She'll probably end up blowing the fuze of everything she touches."

Rani laughed. "Don't be mean. I can see her doing it. So it's just us this weekend?"

"Nah, she's gone for the whole week." he grinned. "We get the place to ourselves."

"Well yeah, except- wait, shh." She raised a finger and frowned, listening.

"Wha-" He stopped as well, ears pricked.

Both of them slowly became aware of a thudding sound overhead – _Thump, thump, thump, th-th-th-th... _Silence, and then it repeated itself.

"What?" Clyde exclaimed, standing up.

"C'mon, it's coming from the attic," Rani said, and they headed up the stairs.

A good climb later, they pushed open the attic door to see a thin, petite brown-haired woman perched on a stair step, a glowing reddish-pink ball in hand.

"What's that?" Clyde asked, pushing past Rani.

"An alien toy," Sarah Jane Smith explained, rolling it around in her fingers, "Given to me by a little alien girl who crash-landed last night. I fixed her ship, and," she smiled, looking back at them. "This is my reward."

"That's what was banging around up here, then?"

In explanation, she tossed the ball across the room. It bounced hectically against the walls and furniture, slowing down and coming to rest on the floor, and the moment the movement ceased it lunged back into her hands. "It's linked to it's owner. If I can ever get Luke to bring K-9 up here, I think I'll make it his toy."

Rani snickered under her breath at the idea of the robot dog chasing that glowing ball across the room.

"Anyway," Sarah Jane said, standing as she placed the ball on a shelf nearby. "Down to business."

"What, _alien_ business?" Clyde asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. "Did you see a fishy news report? Some odd sort of artifact uncovered in a museum?"

"No," she said, smiling. "I saw a meteor falling out of the sky last night. I've had Mr. Smith tracking it. Speaking of – Mr. Smith, I need you!"

Mr. Smith burst forth from the wall with a hiss of steam and the reassembly of the "fireplace" he hid behind. His screen pulsed blue, red and purple, showing he was on, working, and awake. "Greetings, Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani." he intoned mechanically. "How may I help?"

"Any updates on the meteor?" she asked.

"I have been tracking it all night," the Xylok replied, not without a hint of pride in his voice. "I also took the liberty of scanning the surrounding area and the unidentified object."

"I figured you would."

"It is located roughly seven miles from the city of Cardiff, in our direction." An image appeared on his screen of a map, with a single, blinking red blip, off on its own away from any cities or forests, in a flat field. "It is a very unique object, Sarah Jane. It crashed without making any sound or leaving an imprint, yet it was moving much too fast when it entered our atmosphere to land properly."

"So what _is_ it?" Rani asked.

"It's not from our world," the computer replied.

Clyde snorted. "Well of course it isn't, it's alien! You feeling okay, Mr. Smith?"

"What I mean," it replied levelly, "Is that it's not from this Universe."

Sarah Jane frowned skeptically. "What, you mean it's from a parallel world?"

"That is my exact suggestion, Sarah Jane."

She rubbed her hands together, pacing the room. "Well... in that case, we have to retrieve it, in case it's dangerous. See what it does."

"Alright, I'll grab my backpack," Clyde said, and made for the door, but she shook her head.

"No, this could be really, _really_ dangerous, you two. It's from another Universe, after all. We have no idea what it's capable of, and that's probably quite a bit, considering it can crash without a sound. I'm doing this one alone." As though it settled the matter, she reached across to her desk and pocketed her sonic lipstick.

"But Sarah Jane, we always come with you," Rani said, sounding crestfallen.

"Sarah Jane," Mr. Smith cut in suddenly. "If I may say, I do not think that's a very good idea. It may be good to have back up on this."

"Well certainly not kids!" she replied.

"Hey!" Clyde snapped. "I'm nearly 20."

"I _am_," Rani countered.

She shook her head. "No. I'll be fine on my own. Now you two go and... oh, I don't know. Just... Don't worry about me." She smiled. "I'm fine."

Rani saw Clyde open his mouth to protest and quickly said, "Alright, Sarah Jane. But you be careful. Clyde and I will go down and check out some shops. C'mon, Clyde."

They headed to the door and Sarah Jane sighed. "Thanks, you two."

"Are you sure this is the right choice, Sarah Jane?" Mr. Smith asked after a short pause.

She grabbed her coat as she headed towards the attic door. "I'll be fine. See you later."

The door clicked shut behind her.

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><p>I just want you to know my computer screen has a thin little crack in the shape of the Cracks in Time and Space.<p>

DOCTOR! YOU MISSED A SPOT!


	2. Chapter 2 Explosion

*Insert maniacal laughter here*

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><p>Gwen leaned forward conspiratorially, resting her head in her hands. "Maybe it's an alien object used to increase the sexual tension in a room."<p>

Rhys sighed in a failed attempt to mask his laughter. "If aliens have vibrators, I don't want to see any of them."

"They do," Jack said shortly from where he sat, studying a computer screen across from the two of them at one of the forensic tables, pouring over the alien object they'd recovered the previous night. His eyes flicked back to the screen, which showed a satellite image of the meteor crash, red blip pointing out the object itself. "Rhys, I forgot to thank you for spending more time here while Rex was in America."

He shrugged. "It's no problem. What's he doing up there anyway?"

"Forensic studies, or something like that. He told me he wanted more experience on the field."

Gwen scoffed. "As though we don't get enough of that here. What _is_ that thing?"

This last comment was addressed to a small, thin, rod-like extension connected to the alien object. The thing itself was long and covered with thick, bumpy irregularities that Gwen was running her fingers on as she studied the extension.

"Damned if I know," Rhys grunted.

By now Jack's attention had returned to the computer screen. Watching the red blip, it slowly got into his mind that now was more than a perfect time to go retrieve the thing. After all, no one was here to stop him, and there was nothing he enjoyed more than a mysterious alien meteor that no one knew anything about. He stood suddenly. "I'm going out for a bit."

Gwen came up for breath from Rhys' lips. "Why?"

He had already crossed the room and grabbed his trench coat. "Meteor or something, crash-landed last night. I think I'll check it out."

"Alright," Rhys said. Jack caught him adding to Gwen, "Alone time."

"Try not to break anything like you usually do," Jack added as the security doors closed behind him.

The Doctor glared fiercely at the miniscule display for the tracking setting of his sonic screwdriver, frowning with determination at the red blip. He paused in his speed walk, looking around him at the empty planes where both his sonic and the TARDIS had pinpointed the location of the meteor. The day was dreary and overcast, the sun glaring down on the flat, grassy hill. Flat, that is, except for a single hill, roughly a quarter of a mile in front of him, where of course the meteor had landed, at the very summit.

He sighed to himself and kept going, eyes always on the sonic. Suddenly he stopped dead as two more blips appeared on the screen on either side of the red one, glowing yellow.

Yellow meant other people.

He tapped the sonic against his thigh, frowning in irritation. It _had_ to be wrong. It was close to impossible for there to be others here, hunting the meteor like him. Still, though, the yellow blips refused to stop existing, and the Doctor almost growled with frustration. The range of his sonic's tracking abilities were low, and it was obvious that the other two blips were much closer to the meteor than him.

He ran, slightly in desperation because he knew he couldn't catch up, and was about a third of the way up the hill when suddenly there was a huge explosion and he saw two sparkling purple blurs fly into the sky before hitting the ground and passing out.

Sarah Jane narrowed her eyes in fixed determination as she began up the hill. She'd studied some maps and Mr. Smith's tracking device earlier in the day, so she knew that the meteor had to be at the top of this hill. Only a bit further and she'd be able to see the elusive treasure.

As she walked, Mr. Smith's warnings came back to her. Of course she knew that the thing might be dangerous! She often thought that everyone worried about her just a bit too much. She'd been fighting aliens a lot longer than them, and by this point had fallen into the idea that she knew what she was doing, and after all had no reason to doubt it. Although she'd had some close calls in the past, she always got out okay, and had certainly gained some street-smarts in the process. Yes, maybe this meteor was from a different Universe, and probably filled with all sorts of things that no one should see, but she was prepared.

Thin, wispy wreaths of grass and weeds bobbed before her. Her shoes crunched softly with each step and her already-heightened senses peaked as she felt suddenly certain that someone else was here. The ground leveled out a few feet before her, but her view was blocked by tall weeds that bobbed in a light wind. She hesitated, interested in what lay ahead, even though her senses were telling her to turn and run. Finally, curiosity overcame her and she took the last few steps, crouching low to avoid being seen.

The meteor lay ahead in all its glory.

The object itself was hard to see, surrounded by an impossibly small and almost prim char circle. A thin ring around an indentation in the ground was charred black and smoking, but only very small, indiscriminate wisps rose from it. The indentation was even blacker, all of the vegetation burned to nothing on impact and the ashes long ago blown away. What remained was cluttered, black soil. Nestled in this place, a perfect fit, was what appeared to be a rock, glowing purple.

Unable to see what was in the crash area very well, Sarah Jane took a few more steps forward, still crouching, but immediately stopped when she saw an indistinct shape on the other side of the meteor. It was tall and stocky, and definitely male, a trench coat billowing around his ankles. He stopped at the top of the summit and observed the crash site the way she had, and then striding purposefully towards it.

She stepped back in an almost hunted way, hesitating, watching to see what he would do. Without even noticing it, her sonic lipstick had ended up in her hand. She watched as he knelt by the indentation and studied whatever was inside. She watched as he reached out to touch it.

At the last second, the idea of danger returned to her and Sarah Jane straightened up, calling out, "Don't touch that!"

Jack looked up, frowning, but it was too late – his hand was already on it.

The world exploded around them.

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><p>I'm enjoying myself way too much.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3 Switched Up

SO MUCH DIALOUGE.

I realize I haven't been doing the line thingy in all the right places. I'll do it from here out, sorry about that.

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><p>When Sarah Jane woke up, she was momentarily alarmed to see nothing but pure white all around her. As her eyes adjusted, however, she saw she was staring into the overcast sky, the sun in her eyes.<p>

She sat up blearily and rubbed her forehead, mind whirring as she tried to remember what was going on. She looked around her and saw in confusion that she was facing the other side of the hill than what she had been before. Behind her was the scenery she'd been walking towards before the explosion.

_The explosion!_

She was on her feet immediately and looked down to see the crash site of the meteor beneath her, but it was now completely empty and no longer glowed purple. She frowned. Why was she so close to it? Hadn't she been further down the hill, and facing the other way?

Memories coming back to her, she spun, looking for the man who had touched the meteor and – she assumed – caused all of this, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shaking her head, she reached to her wrist to scan the area with her watch, and found in alarm that it wasn't there.

She bit her lip, making a face. _If that man stole it and then just walked off... _Sighing, she figured her only choice was to head back home and hope that Mr. Smith still had a tracking device on the watch.

She started down the hill, then nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the thin figure of a woman collapsed on the face of the hill only a few feet in front of her. When she didn't move, Sarah Jane ran forward, hand out to take her pulse. She turned the limp body over onto its back and nearly screamed.

It was _her._

No, no, that wasn't possible, it wasn't her. There was a logical explanation for this. Again she reached for her watch to scan the body, and was again reminded that it wasn't there. Holding her breath, she glanced to the look-a-like's wrist and saw the watch there, plain as day.

Sarah Jane did something she rarely did. She cursed to herself.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to organize her thoughts and get the facts straight. There had been a man here, who had touched the meteor and in doing so caused an explosion, and was now gone. The meteor itself was nowhere to be seen. Looking around her, she noted that the explosion seemed to have had no effect on anything other than making her pass out. The ground wasn't scorched, and nothing was burning. Odd. What else? There was a look-a-like of her passed out on the ground, an exact carbon copy, and-

That's funny.

Now, as she looked closer at the scenery, she noted that the look-a-like was in exactly the same place she had been when the explosion happened. And she herself had been in the place where the man...

Almost like the two of them had...

Wringing her hands, Sarah Jane composed herself and then reached to the pocket of her look-a-like, being careful not to wake her, as she remembered she'd had a hand mirror in her jacket pocket. Sure enough, the mirror was there. Nearly trembling with worry, she opened it and held it up to her own face.

"Oh god," she said, cringing at the male American accent she heard, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

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><p>Jack groaned as he woke up and looked into his own face. His first thought was confusion, because he was pretty certain he'd already had this dream, but that was quickly replaced by alarm as he remembered what had happened.<p>

He jumped to his feet, looking around, muscles locking as the other him grabbed his arm. "Calm down, you really shouldn't get up so fast. You're going to get vertigo."

"Who are y-" he started, and instantly stopped when he heard his own voice. Standing stock-still, he looked at himself and then back up at the other him. "Why the _hell_ am I British? _And _a girl?"

He watched himself grimace.

"I think it was the meteor. When you touched it, I believe. It... for lack of a better term, we switched bodies."

"So who are you then?" he made the womanly voice say.

Looking reluctant, she held out one of his hands and replied, "Sarah Jane Smith. We met, at the Medusa Cascade."

He nodded slowly, not accepting his own hand. "I remember. And by your expression I can tell that you know who I am." She nodded. "So what you're trying to tell me is that I'm you now?"

"It's the only logical explanation."

"Alright, I've been through worse." His hands went to his trench coat pockets and sighed when he found none there, resorting instead to looking around himself. "Where's the crystal, then? We can try to reverse it."

He watched himself frown. "Sorry, crystal?"

"Oh. That was the meteor. It was this crystal, purple. About the size of one of my... _your_ hands."

"It's gone," Sarah Jane's frown deepened. "When I woke up it was nowhere to be seen."

"Of course," he grumbled, and began walking around the parameter of the hilltop. "The explosion didn't leave any remains either. Any answer to that, Miss Smith?"

"My watch," she muttered, following behind him. "You could try that."

He stopped pacing, looking to his wrist. When the watch was located, he half-grinned at her quizzically and then fumbled with the buttons until the device snapped open. Seeing it was a scanner, he gave her another pointed look before operating it.

"Nothing. This hilltop reads as totally normal."

She sighed and stamped his foot in irritation. "It makes no sense. How can some crystal from another Universe cause all of this?"

Jack looked up, eyebrow raised. "Another Universe?"

"Yes," she looked down. "I, uh... Oh, no secrets now, I suppose. I have a supercomputer, a Xylok. It scanned the crash site for me before I came here."

"Well that's certainly interesting." He looked at her. "_Both _of those developments."

They were both quiet for a moment, eyes on the place where the crystal had landed. "What do we do now?" she finally asked.

"I suppose we have to be each other."

She looked down at him, at herself. He looked up at her. "Alright," she said after a moment. "So how do I get into Torchwood?"

"Cardiff. That big monument, the waterfall. You know it. There's an indented cement block in the front. Stand on it."

"That's it? Okay. So who will be there?"

"Rex is in America... Everyone else is..." he looked up at her and let loose a fake smile. "Only Gwen and Rhys, and they're married so if you give them space you can probably fake your way through it. What about me?"

She sighed. "Number 13, Bannerman Road. The Xylok is in the attic, as well as most of the alien stuff. We call him Mr. Smith, and if for whatever reason – although I don't recommend it, he's very clever – you need to talk to him, you say, 'Mr. Smith, I need you.' As long as no one's parents stop for a visit, the only people you should come across are Clyde and Rani."

"Hmm? Who are they?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Clyde's 19 and Rani's 20, so I still consider them kids. I've heard stories about you, don't try anything."

He held her hands up in mock surrender. "Wasn't planning on it. So how do we keep track of each other?"

She pressed a hand to her head and Jack decided that after all of this was over, he'd never catch himself doing the same thing – it was very unbecoming of him. "Oh, I don't know. How about... what day is it?"

"Saturday."

"Okay, Monday, we find some reason to come down here alone, and then we can talk."

"Good enough. So I'll- what's that?"

Sarah Jane glanced to the ground and saw what he was pointing at. She held it up and then put it in his palm. "Sonic lipstick." She glared. "Don't break it."

* * *

><p>The Doctor gripped the edge of the TARDIS console, leaning forward. "You know, I didn't pick you all up for social hour."<p>

In front of him, splayed out in various areas of the console room, were Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, and Amy and Rory Pond. He had taken a quick trip about the London area to pick them all up, but now the five of them wanted to do nothing other than talk. Which, of course, was understandable. It had been quite a while since the last time they'd all seen each other, let alone been in the TARDIS.

"I mean, I know we've been talking over the phone, every now and then," Martha was saying to Donna. "And I'm dealing with all the alien stuff everyday, at UNIT, but _this_?" She gazed around the room. "This is different."

"Of course it is!" Donna grinned and swatted her leg. "Back in the TARDIS, once again! It never gets old."

"Hey you guys," Rose said, walking up, hands in her jacket pockets.

"Rose," Martha smiled, somewhat nervously. "You been okay?"

She shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. You guys worry about me too much."

"Rory, we haven't talked to them in _ages_," Amy said as she literally dragged her husband towards the group. "It won't hurt you to actually speak every now and then!"

"Amy..." Rory muttered, but got no further because she'd finally succeeded in reaching the other three.

"How have you-"

"Guys!" The Doctor called, peering at them over the other side of the console. "Guys, I'm trying to have a meeting! There _is_ an actual reason that I brought you here!"

"Well of course," Martha said, and was about to add, "We'd love to hear it," until she realized how rude that sounded and ended up awkwardly stopping there.

He leaned back on the safety bar behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're all in terrible danger."

"We usually are, all things considered," Rory agreed.

"More than usual," he replied flatly. "Something has landed on Earth. Something from another Universe."

"What?" Rose swallowed. "You mean like..."

"Sort of like your Universe, yes, except not at all. I know nothing about this other Universe, nor do I care about it. The only important thing is the object that came from it, which crash-landed on Earth last night."

Donna narrowed her eyes. "I didn't hear about any meteors on the tele."

"Yes, that's because this thing landed with little fuss, only a bit of burnt grass."

"But you said it _crashed_," Rory sighed.

"It did, but it also came here on purpose," he replied, sitting up. "See, in most other Universes, they follow a different Elemental System than us, some of them arguably simpler. I've looked into it enough to know that this particular Universe has an element called Chaos, and that's what this thing is made of. Raw chaos."

"Raw chaos?" Amy questioned. "How do you mean?"

He began to pace, eyes flicking between the group and the glass floor beneath him. "Chaos is an element that's semi-conscious. It does not think for itself, but it has it's own sort of primal instinct, you could say. It's instinct, it's purpose, is to cause chaos. Trouble."

"Doctor, if you don't know anything about the Universe, then how do you know all this?" Martha asked.

He pointed to his sonic screwdriver, which was in a holding circle amid the clutter of the console. "I got close enough to the thing last night to pick up some scans."

"Alright, so it causes trouble." Donna muttered. "How?"

"The really fun part about this thing is that you could almost say it's an elite piece of chaos. It actually has its own section of it's elemental's abilities that it's the best at."

"Which is?" Rose said, gripping onto the conversation for all it was worth.

He stopped pacing in front of them, leaning on the console behind him. "Trans-molecular gender-linking mind-body reversal."

"What?" Amy asked after a moment of silence.

He sighed. "Body switching."

"Ah," Donna said. "But what about this gender-linking bit? That's the scariest thing you've mentioned so far."

"Oh, that's a part of this particular type of body switching. It means that two people who experience this, if they are of the same gender, will generate a mental link."

"You mean..." Rose said slowly. "Telepathic communication?"

"That exactly," he smiled slightly.

"Okay, you said you got close to the thing last night. Why didn't you take it?" Rory said, sounding skeptical.

"Two reasons," the Doctor replied. "Firstly, contact with flesh is what activates the thing. If you touch it, you'll instantly be switched with the person nearest to you. Secondly, two people got there quicker than me. And one of them touched it."

"So you're saying that those two got switched? Who were they?" Martha asked, taken aback.

"Yes. And I'm not sure. It could be anyone that went up that hill, or UNIT, or maybe even Torchwood... or other aliens. But anyways, the sudden rush of chaotic energy this caused generated enough strength to literally launch the thing into the atmosphere again, like a rocket."

Donna frowned. "Well... Technically that's good, right? It's left our planet."

"Nice try Donna, but it came crashing down here again. And I think the force of its own explosion caused it to break in half."

"Well _someone_ had to have noticed _that_ explosion, right?" Amy tried.

"No, it only effected those who were being body-switched, and anyone within a half a mile ended up passing out, such as myself."

"Well what is the thing anyways?" asked Rory.

"A crystal," he explained. "A large purple crystal. Or two smaller ones, if I'm right about it breaking."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think it did?"

"I saw two purple specks go into the sky," he said flatly.

"Alright, dangerous purple body switching crystal," Donna clarified. "Why are you telling us?"

"Because you're my companions, and I keep my companions safe," he said simply. "I got all of you that I could get a hold of and brought you here to tell you. This thing could target anyone. I want you to be on guard."

"And you needed some help, right?" Rory asked.

He shrugged. "It wouldn't be turned down."

"Should I tell UNIT?" Martha asked.

"No," he said quickly. "Their idea of a solution is to blow up half of Britain. I'd rather keep this one to myself, no offense to them. Or you."

"None taken. What do you want us to do? I'm pretty sure that all of us will want to help." Martha received some slow nods in return to this comment.

"We need to try and find the two crystal pieces," he replied. "Search. Use your resources, you're all clever. Do what you need to."

"But don't blow up half of Britain," Amy added, leaning forward with a big grin.

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><p>*Giggles.*<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 Two and Two

Gahhhhhh.

Well this is fun, isn't it?

Hey guys. I'd request that you please leave me some reviews! I lurrrve my reviews! I eat them like they're DINNER.

lawl.

Anyways, have fun.

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><p>Two hours after Sarah Jane left, Clyde heard his phone ringing and ran to answer it.<p>

"Hello?"

"Clyde? It's Rani," the phone replied.

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

There was a pause and the sound of a sigh came across the line. "What do you think? Are you ready to go to Sarah Jane's house?"

Feeling like he was missing the bigger picture, Clyde responded, "Why?"

"To check on her, of course."

"But Rani, she's not hom-"

"_Exactly._ Just meet me outside her house," she said, and hung up.

* * *

><p>Clyde did as he was told and met her smiling figure outside the driveway. She was swathed in a long red scarf and jacket, a black hat crammed on her head and her jeans in a matching hue. He felt suddenly awkward in his beaten leather jacket and blue jeans.<p>

"Hi," he said.

"Glad you showed up," she joked. "C'mon."

Clyde followed her somewhat hesitantly to the front door. "What are we doing?"

"Did you really think I was serious when I said we'd leave her alone to check on that meteor?" she replied as she dug around in the flower pot for the spare key.

"Well, no, not in a sense, but..." He frowned. "Shouldn't I be the one coming up with the grand schemes and not doing what we're told?"

"You're having an off day," she smiled, and pushed open the door.

Once up in the attic, Rani abandoned her scarf on a nearby chair and called across the room, "Mr. Smith, we need you!"

"Yes, Rani, Clyde?" he asked as he emerged from the wall.

"Can you show us that tracking thing you had on the meteor?"

The two stood side by side and watched Mr. Smith's screen as it pulsed red and blue, frowning as they received no response.

"The meteor has been relocated," the computer revealed, sounding somewhat distressed.

"Relocated?" Clyde asked, surprised. "How do you mean?"

"It is no longer at it's crash site."

"Well..." Rani gave Clyde a look. "Well, can you at least show us the field it used to be on? Show us what it looked like... half an hour ago."

"Certainly." The pulsing red and blue was replaced by a satellite image of the field, two yellow dots walking off screen in opposite directions.

"Mr. Smith, what are yellow dots?" Clyde asked when they had disappeared.

"Living organisms, Clyde."

They watched the screen with growing dread. Something definitely wasn't right here. "One of the dots had to be Sarah Jane, right?" Rani asked.

"Well, of course," Clyde murmured. "But then the other..."

They heard the sound of the front door closing.

Rani swallowed. "Mr. Smith, clear your screen, but stay on. We don't think things are quiet right here."

"I'd daresay I agree, Rani."

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs, and then the door opened and Sarah Jane walked in. Clyde was sitting on the stairs and Rani lounged casually in the desk chair.

Sarah Jane smiled, looked around and finally said, "Do you two ever leave this attic?"

"Oh, you know us, Sarah Jane," Clyde said. "We're always... going... places."

"Er-" Rani managed to scrape up the conversation. "Er, did you find the meteor?"

"What? Um," she tossed her bag somewhat recklessly to the floor by the desk. "Um, yes, I found it."

"And...?" she pushed.

"It was... just a space rock, nothing more. I took care of it."

Clyde frowned. "But Mr. Smith said that it was from another Universe."

For a brief moment, Sarah Jane shot Clyde a dark look, then suddenly recovered. "Er... Yes, it was. Yes. But it was just a _rock_ from another Universe, nothing more." She smiled vaguely.

"So what did you do with it?" Rani asked.

"Destroyed it," she looked about herself somewhat awkwardly, still standing in the entryway. "Had to get rid of it, you know." Her smile reached an intense level. "Don't want Torchwood getting their hands on it!"

"Right, yeah," Clyde murmured.

"Well, er," she mumbled. "I'm... going to go to my room now and... be... in my room. Er... talk later!" She whisked out of the room.

They waited until they couldn't hear her walking down the stairs anymore, then Rani said, "There's definitely something wrong here. Did you scan her, Mr. Smith?"

"Of course, Rani. However, her readings came up normally. There is nothing wrong with Sarah Jane."

"Then why was she acting like that?" She muttered, shaking her head.

"And moreover," Clyde added. "What's _Torchwood?_"

* * *

><p>Jack sighed as he collapsed on the bed in what he hoped was Sarah Jane's room. That was probably the worst conversation he'd ever experienced in his entire long life, and he'd been through quite a few nasty talks. This was going to be harder than he'd thought.<p>

He jumped up in surprise as suddenly his window started opening itself. _Is the place haunted, too?_ He thought drily, but got an even worse surprise as Martha's head popped up from the open window.

She gasped when she looked up and saw him and disappeared for a second, then her head popped up again. "Sarah Jane, you scared me."

Jack decided that this was the right moment to go for the obvious. "Why are you breaking in to my house?" After a pause, he added, "You know you can use the front door."

She seemed confused by this, but said, "I didn't want your friends to know I'm here. The Doctor sent me. He couldn't find you earlier, for whatever reason – same with Jack, if you remember him – and he wanted me to tell you two about this... thing... that's...sorry, that's..."

Her hesitation came from the fact that she was having trouble raising the window any further, and the current gap was just inches too small for her to get through. "Um," Jack said slowly, head still buzzing from the words, _The Doctor. _"Do you need some help?"

"No, wait," she found herself awkwardly shoved halfway through the window and managed to push it open further by arching her back. She jumped through. "There, that's better."

"Right," Unable to stop himself, he asked, "Have you visited Jack yet?"

She seemed slightly perturbed by this question, but said anyways, "No."

"Well... it's nice to see you."

Martha opened her mouth, closed it, was quiet for a moment, looking down in thought, then finally spoke: "Sarah Jane, are you feeling okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jack replied slowly.

"Well it's just... you're acting like I visit all the time. And well... I don't."

He swallowed. "I..."

She frowned. "Jack, is that you?"

He made a face. "What? Why would I... er... Yeah, okay. How did you know?"

"Well, the Doctor gathers up all his companions except you and Sarah Jane to tell us about this chaos crystal that makes people body switch, and he couldn't get it because _two_ people beat him to it and then touched it, and the _two_ of you couldn't be found by him so he could tell you, and now you're acting like I come to your house every day..." she smiled weakly. "I just put _two_ and _two_ together."

"No, no puns, please," he sat down. "I have a headache. But I figure the Doctor's learned more about this crystal than I've managed."

"Yes," Martha said, and explained.

"Well great, that's just great," he sighed.

"Erm..." she glanced around the room. "How are you doing?"

He looked up at her. "Considering I just blew my cover on you, not very well at all."

She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm sure you'll be relieved to know I think this is mad."

"That's because it is," he sighed. "Well, you should visit Sarah Jane and see how she's holding up."

"Right," Martha edged towards the window. As she slipped out of it, she added behind her shoulder, "Good luck!"

"Yeah," he sighed under his breath. "I'm gonna need it."

* * *

><p>Roflcopters, poor Jack.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5 What happens in Cardiff

Yay!

Sorry I didn't get up a chapter yesterday. I found myself rather busy.

Anywho, keep leaving those reviews.

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><p>Cherry blossoms weaved through the air, dancing lightly on the wind, thin pink petals floating carelessly in the empty space. The green, springy grass was littered with those who had finished their journey, and the cherry trees bristled with thousands more, baited by the seducing wind, tugging on their branches, desperate to taste freedom. The thick gray cobblestone path was blanketed in their fair share of them too, and although Amy danced among them, commenting on the endless beauty, she seemed unaware of how many she was crushing beneath her well-worn brown sandles.<p>

"Amy," Rory said after watching this for a while. "Aren't we supposed to be looking for the crystal?"

She was spinning among the trees a few feet ahead of him, and after a moment, paused, moving purposefully towards one of the adorned plants. She bent and studied the trunk, one hand pressed lightly against the pale wood. Her fiery hair clashed with the soft pink scenery. "Rory, come here."

He walked over obediently, kneeling beside her, hands in pockets. "What?"

"Look at the trunk," she ran a hand along an indentation in it, that might have been a chunk of wood removed, or torn out, or otherwise discarded. Clear white sap oozed from the wound, clinging to the trunk.

"Yes?" he peered at the broken place. "Maybe some teenagers cut it. Or the gardeners were removing a dead branch."

"But it looks so... sad."

"Amy, do remember, the Doctor talking about a crystal? He said it was _dangerous_. Maybe we should be trying to get it for him?"

She looked up, eyes narrowed. "Rory, that's what we're doing. Maybe it landed here."

He straightened, leaning back on his heels with a sigh. "This place is pretty, but I don't see any smoking meteor holes. Here, Cardiff is nearby. We check there?"

"Oh, fine," she stood to face him, cherry blossoms tangled in her hair. "But really, Rory. Take a hint. I can't organize _all_ the dates we go on." With that she headed purposefully down the path.

After a short walk, the two emerged on an half-empty cement, wide cement pavement along the edge of a pier, the water dancing with the soft sunlight that reflected off of it. The water rocked unsteadily back and forth, slow and rhythmic, seagulls pacing above the surface. "You've almost redeemed yourself," Amy commented, walking with her hands held behind her back. "This is nearly as pretty as the park was."

"Good," he said, eyes passively going between the sky and the ground. "I think the Doctor mentioned once that Torchwood is around here. He said something about a pavement like this. I'm not really sure where, though."

She frowned. "What would the odds be that _they've_ found the crystal?"

"Low, I hope."

They turned the corner and gradually the path led away from the sea, becoming slowly more industrial. The last bit of nature visible was a thin glimpse of a wind-swept, valley-like curvature, like it had been clawed into the land. Sparse bits of grass clung to life on its surface. Amy subconsciously led them away from it.

She turned her head, studying the tall buildings, cold and steel, glimmering beneath the overcast sky. A few cars purred in and out of view. If she squinted, she could get a view of the sea, far away and lonely on the other side of the city. Looking up to Rory, as her body spun she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"What-" she looked back and saw, shoved between two buildings, a simmering cloud of smoke. "Rory, doesn't that look like...?"

"A crash site?" she could hear the excitement in his voice. "Yeah, c'mon."

They dashed across roads, skirting pedestrians and dodging cars. Finally they came to the place between the two buildings and stopped in despair when all they saw was a steaming, heat-filled trash can.

"It's just-" Amy began, put stopped, straining her gaze. Reflected against the charred metal of the can, she could see an iridescent shimmer of purple. "Rory, look!"

They came up to it and looked in. Sure enough, beneath a few smoking newspaper remains, was a jagged, brilliant chunk of crystal. It reflected all shades of purple into their eyes, glowing madly, glittering with wild indifference. Amy's hand shot out and Rory stopped her at the last possible second.

"Bare skin," he said, somewhat shakily, as the idea of suddenly waking up to find he'd become his wife ripped into an expansive imagination.

"Right," she said with the same tremor. He reached into his pocket, found and shoved on a glove, and then picked up the shard. It was thick but small, fitting easily into the curve of his palm, about the size of three arrowheads shoved together.

"We got it," Amy said with triumph.

Rory wanted to add, _And the good news is we're not each other_, but he decided against it, smiling at her instead. "Let's get it to the Doctor, where it's safe."

* * *

><p>Lights danced.<p>

Sarah Jane was firmly convinced that there was a pool somewhere, hidden beneath the glittering, mighty cavern known as Torchwood. Light bobbed and waved, shimmering against the walls exactly like the reflection of water. As she spiraled down through all of this, down from the concrete perception filter and into the base, she nearly gasped before remembering who she was.

Now, roughly an hour and a half later, she sat in Jack's office, overlooking the dazzling scene. Mr. Smith was impressive, and her alien collection was impressive, but in their own way. The TARDIS, too, was fantastically impressive, but again it its own fashion. This was its own kind of impressive. The Torchwood base was a mish-mash of clever architecture, brilliant technology, and a huge collage of alien artifacts, all thrown together as one. She let out a soft whistle, under her breath, still unable to get used to it.

She'd managed to avoid talking too much to Rhys and Gwen, who were sitting together in a couch by the main entrance. The only thing they'd exchanged were a few short words about the meteor being a homing device, which she'd "dealt with" and a bit about some strange alien object that they'd recovered last night. The two brought it up to her only to say they'd made no progress.

"Brilliant," she'd said, in a slow, and (she hoped) Jack-like drawl. "Keep working on it."

The time passing tortuously, Sarah Jane had sat in a silent vigil up there for quite a while now, and by watching everything in such a way it had occurred to her that she was very much in a position of extreme power here. As this became apparent, she decided to risk stepping out the front entrance, in hopes to get some fresh air and time alone.

No one stopped her.

She entered the front, ground-floor room that housed the secret entrance and was heading for the exit when the space was suddenly filled by Martha Jones, in a thin black suit that fit her nicely, hair up in a spiky bun. "Gah," Sarah Jane managed, then quickly composed herself. "Martha? What are you doing here?"

She looked up and then smiled, very, very slowly. "Jack, good to see you."

After a pause she settled on standing with her hands on her hips, smiling slightly while inside her mind spun with panic. She hadn't expected this. "I wasn't thinking that you'd come 'round. Orders from UNIT?"

The smile on Martha's face cracked wider. "No, no, just thought I'd say hi to my favorite captain," she mock-saluted.

Stomach sinking, Sarah Jane knew she had only one choice. "Well, you want to come in?"

"Oh..." her eyes strayed across the room, the smile never leaving. "I don't know. I've been rather busy lately."

She prayed the relief wasn't clear on her face. "Of course, so am I. So, uh..."

Finally, Martha broke down, bending over as she clutched her sides, shaking with laughter. "Alright, Sarah Jane, drop the act. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist," she managed through gasps.

"What?" She blinked. "How did you...?"

"Jack," she straightened, wiping away tears. "The Doctor sent me to tell the two of you about that crystal, and he blew his cover so quickly..."

Sarah Jane sighed, shaking her head. "I should have known. But the Doctor, he..."

"He's on it, I'll explain." Martha smiled warmly. "But firstly, I'm sure you're not having much fun."

"You could say that again. Well, glad to know you're here."

"Yeah. The Doctor will want to know that you and Jack-"

"No," Sarah Jane said hurriedly. "Don't tell him. He's already got too much on his hands, and I don't want him having to worry about this too."

Martha frowned, looking surprised. "Are you sure?"

She paused, swallowed, then said, "Yes. This is best. He needs to be able to figure this out on his own, and the two of us are just a distraction." She hesitated for a moment, then added, "But, it's nice having at least one person that knows. Can you try to check up on us often, Martha?"

"Of course," she laughed, somewhat weakly. "I can't just leave you two on you're own."

Sarah Jane let out a relieved breath. "Okay. Tell me what I need to know..."

* * *

><p>And so the plot thickens...<p> 


	6. Chapter 6 Lost and Found

I'm really rather proud of this chapter. I just like it for some reason.

Keep leaving reviews!

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><p>"Interesting," The Doctor said as he crouched, hand hovering dangerously over the crystal shard.<p>

"Doctor, you should probably put on some gloves," Rose suggested.

"No, I have no reason to touch it, even with gloves, Rose," he replied, leaning forward to squint more closely at the thing.

"I will remind you that I carried the whole thing here using said hand-covers," Rory muttered.

"I'm not concerned about the reliability of gloves, I just simply don't want to touch it."

They were standing, or rather hanging, somewhat vulture-like, over the Doctor and the crystal, a few feet away from the TARDIS. They'd parked it in an abandoned car lot a few miles out of London to study the crystal. The Doctor had been reluctant to bring it into the TARDIS for even the short trip there, and was eager to get it out once they'd arrived. Amy, Rory, and Rose had watched as he'd had Rory carefully deposit the object on the ground, and was now perusing over it.

He whipped out his sonic, quick as a flash, and scanned the crystal. "Hmm," he frowned at the results. "Not radioactive, but it's giving off some sort of an energy. It also seems to be..." his frown deepened. "It's not aware, but it's like it's taking its own scans. It doesn't have a consciousness, but it's like a low level of awareness. It knows where it is, it knows why it's here."

"Creepy," Amy supplied.

"So why _is_ it here?" Rory mused.

"It's feeding, Rory," The Doctor looked up, expression bemused, as though he'd expected them to know. "It feeds off of chaos. It feeds off of the trouble it's... _abilities_ cause."

"I'm beginning to see why you don't want to touch it," Rose grumbled.

* * *

><p>Donna was lost. She was starting to notice how good she was at ending up that way.<p>

It had seemed like a brilliant idea, at first. She'd go looking in the TARDIS for clues. After all, that place was so big, so endless, that there was no doubt in her mind she could find something helpful. The Doctor had been everywhere – he had to have come across something like this crystal before, and kept records of what to do, or a piece of it, or _something_.

But of course she'd gotten lost.

When she'd still be traveling with the Doctor – it felt like it had been hundreds of years ago – he'd consistently warned her to not go anywhere in the TARDIS that he hadn't told her about. In fact, he was so strict about it, that she'd literally been limited to the console room and about three rooms on the floor above. Since the last time she'd seen him, and the time everyone had spent underground, she'd seen one or two more floors. Unfortunately, this had managed to get her slightly cocky as to her navigation skills within the time machine, and she'd entered the halls absolutely certain she'd make it out with no trouble.

Now, as she walked, slow and hesitant, through the halls, she was feeling a good deal less confident.

While she'd been traveling with him, he'd backed up his warnings with stories, stories of wayward companions who hadn't listened to him and had ended up wandering, deep into the machine, and never being found again. The first time he'd mentioned it, it had startled her quiet badly, almost to the level of wanting to leave, and the Doctor had said, "It's terrible I know, absolutely heartbreaking, but it happens. There's always just one or two people who don't understand how serious I'm being, or exactly how dangerous this ship and I really are, but that's why I'm telling you this. Even _I _don't know about everything in the TARDIS. You're clever, Donna. But you've still got to know the rules."

Oh, how stupid she was. Why hadn't she listened? Or at _least_ told someone where she was going. But no, she was having a fierce moment of selfishness, and, certain she would find something within the TARDIS, she wanted to keep all the glory to herself.

She took very slow, measured steps, down the particularly lengthy hall she was in, and tried to not be scared. Her thoughts kept turning back to the fact that the Doctor had never told her about anyone who got lost in the TARDIS ever getting out. But of course he wouldn't have, would he? It would only have detracted from how serious he was being. There had to be at least one that he'd saved. Right? And she was different, wasn't she? She'd known him for the longest time. He would do anything to save her, right?

Then again, she'd seen how he could act when he was angry. How violent he could get, how reckless. But, on further consideration, she was dealing with a new Doctor. What if this one wasn't like that?

Somehow, this didn't succeed in comforting her. Being a different Doctor, he could have no interest in her safety whatsoever. He wasn't like that though. He never had been. Even the short time she'd spent with this Doctor had proved that, hadn't it?

_Hadn't it?_

She stopped walking and looked around. In front of her were dark, white walls, with thick, yellowish hexagonal shapes imprinted on them, and behind her was exactly the same thing. The shapes she knew were part of the lighting system of the TARDIS, but these were dark and shadowy, dust prickling their surfaces, as though it had been years since the last time they were used. Their shapes created long, snaky shadows on the ground and her tired feet were reluctant to head deeper into the darkness. After all, it made more sense that heading towards lighted areas would lead her to the console room. But again, the Doctor's words, from long ago, made her hesitate:

"This ship works in weird ways, Donna. It rearranges itself every now and then, shifts all the rooms, and everything ends up moving. Everything except the console room. The console room is always here. That never changes, for some reason."

She frowned to herself and stared down the remaining length of the dark corridor. Maybe she should take this one. What if it _did_ lead to the exit? If she turned around now, she might never see it again. Another second of hesitation, and Donna continued walking forward.

After about a minute, she reached the end of the hallway and turned in the only available direction – right. This new hallway was wider, and looked a bit different, but also a good deal more sinister. The lights, still out of use here, were fewer and more spread out, and between them were firmly closed, dark doors, that looked slate-gray in the low lighting. She tried all of them, and every single one was locked. At the end of this hallway, it turned both left and right. After a moment, she moved towards left, then a deep, well-buried instinct that absolutely hated the direction left drove her away from it and she went right.

To the right, there were no lights on the walls, instead replaced by prisons and cages. Some of them were high-tech and looked alien, with sensitive forcefield equipment that hummed and flickered slightly with what little power was left within them, while others were rusted and broken, looking almost medieval. She realized with a shock that this was an abandoned prison within the TARDIS, probably used long ago for enemies that the Doctor couldn't dispose of.

She wondered, with a sinking feeling, if there were still any prisoners here.

She got her answer.

A Dalek turned the corner.

It was heavily damaged and scarred, but undoubtedly dangerous. It paused in the middle of the hall, studying whatever was to the left, and then turned, very slowly, to face Donna. The dark red diode in its eye stalk flickered. "Human lifeform en-_coun_tered! Proper action must be _ta_-ken!" It moved forward with deathly calm.

Donna turned back and ran for her life.

She went back down the hall with all of the closed doors, and then turned to find that the Doctor hadn't been kidding – the TARDIS had rearranged itself. She was now facing a wide, well-lit hallway, glowing orange from the hexagonal lights. Stunned, she realized that the hallway was very familiar.

"Halt!" The crackling voice of the Dalek came from behind her, terrifyingly near. She ran forward and turned to see she was on a balcony above the empty console room. Almost giddy with relief, despite the death-machine behind her, she ran down the steps to the lower level and turned to see the Dalek had risen into the air and was now teetering towards her with heart-breaking speed.

She screamed, a real level of fear now piercing her heart, and dived out the open TARDIS doors, promptly tripping on the threshold in her haste and landing, facing the doors as the Dalek came towards her. "What?" The Doctor said, jumping back from where he had been behind her, studying the crystal.

"Go!" She cried. "It's a Dalek, he-"

"EXTERMINATE!" It howled, gun raised.

Donna scrambled backwards, unable to get to her feet, and her flailing hand met the crystal.

Rory was given about half a second to mutter, "Bother," before everything exploded.

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><p>AHAHA.<p>

By the way, did you like my Turn Left reference?


	7. Chapter 7 In the Way of Trouble

OHHHH YES.

Sorry, it's been torturously long since the last time I posted, but yesterday was my birthday. That's my excuse.

I LOVE this chapter.

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><p>Donna's eyes flashed open. Her head spun frantically, searching for light, but it was pitch-black. Her breath caught in her throat. Where was she? What had happened? She'd touched the crystal...<p>

Relief flooded through her when she heard the Doctor's voice and vaguely, as though from a great distance, the sound of the sonic running over her. "Donna? Is that you? Are you alright?"

The words reached her slowly, and it began to occur to her that she should speak, but then-

"No wait, Donna, don't say anything. I want you to trust me when I tell you that you're alright. Yes, you touched the crystal. Yes, you've... erm, body-switched. But I need you to stay calm."

Her head spun in confusion and fear. What was he keeping from her? What was going on? She was certain there was some important detail mixed in among her thoughts that she was missing by a longshot and she absolutely _had_ to know, but she could barely think straight, let alone...

Oh, yes, that was it.

_Who was she?_

As her thoughts had played hooky around her, she'd been again just barely aware of the sound of the sonic scanning her.

"Is she okay?" A voice said. Amy. So she wasn't Amy.

"More or less," the Doctor said slowly. "Her bodily functions are normal, if heart rate a bit fast. The good news is she's going to be okay. The bad news..."

Rory's voice sounded. "Is that she's a-"

"Thank you, Rory!" he cut him off. "Donna, can you hear me? No wait, don't answer. I'm pretty sure you can hear me. I hope you can hear me. It would be really, really helpful if you could hear me. But anyway, I don't want you talking right now because your own voice might startle you. A bit. Maybe a lot. I understand that you're very confused, but listen to me, okay? When you touched the crystal, you got a bit... unlucky. You're sort of... em. There's no nice way to say it. You possibly, in a very bad way, might have switched bodies with a Dalek."

Despite the whirring, endless tornado of thoughts racing in her head, this information cut through her system like a sharp, cold, bitter piece of ice. It reached her mind, and time seemed to slow.

"Donna?" A voice asked. Amy.

"Wha-" She began, and stopped. She'd heard the dark, scratchy metallic tinge that was a Dalek voice, instead of her own (and suddenly comforting) British accent.

After a long moment during which she gathered her thoughts, Donna said, "I want to give you all fair warning that I am very, very angry right now."

* * *

><p>The Doctor swallowed. He watched in a silence as thick as a blanket as the dark red orb, dormant and invisible within the eye stalk of the Dalek, standing in front of him, came suddenly to life, flickering in a resigned sort of way. "Bloody hell, Daleks have terrible vision," it commented.<p>

"You alright, Donna?" Rory asked, looking from what he deemed a safe distance over the Doctor's shoulder.

"No," the metallic voice stated flatly. "But I'm not dead either, so _three cheers for Donna!_"

The Doctor hovered into her line of vision, as all of his instincts demanded that he killed the thing immediately. "Donna? Hello! It's me, hi! You can see me, I hope?"

"Yes."

He ran his sonic over her once more, partially for safekeeping, partially out of instinct. "Right then. So you're a Dalek. Sorry about that, terrible bad luck. I mean really, you could have become any one of us, and you got stuck with the-"

"Where am I?" She grumbled.

He looked down, sucking his cheek. "Well, again, rather bad luck there..." He paused, and when she didn't say anything, continued. "The Dalek woke up first after the explosion. So, well, he's sort of left, and we don't know where he's off to."

"Lovely. Do we at least still have the-"

"Crystal? No, it took off again from the energy that came from your... switch."

"So you have no way of figuring out how to help me yet," she growled, taking the low, oppressive Dalek voice and lowering it about ten notches. Rory literally shivered.

"That... is the case, yes," The Doctor murmured.

She was quiet, and after a painfully long moment, the Dalek began suddenly to turn in a circle. "How the _hell_ do you operate this thing?"

"Ah well, see, I've never had the-" he barely stopped himself from saying _misfortune_ "-chance to be a Dalek, so I can't really say."

"Errr..." She said. Her circle suddenly changed direction, and promptly fired a laser into a nearby garbage can, which then proceeded to melt halfway and the contents caught on fire. A nasty smell filled the area. "Ah, well now I know what to do when I get _angry! Like right now!_"

The Doctor's instincts went into overdrive.

"What are we going to do?" Amy hissed to him, taking a nervous half-glance at Donna as she did.

"Not much we _can_ do," he replied shortly. "No crystal, no Donna's body, just a Dalek. That's it."

"Fantastic," Rory said. "But we can't just leave her in that thing."

"Well, no, it certainly goes against morals," he grumbled. "But we have no choice. Not until I can get a crystal piece. She'll have to live like that, for now."

Very suddenly, Martha's head poked out from behind a wall surrounding the car lot. "Hello, you three. I thought you might want to know, Doctor, that I found this outside of London on my way back," she held up a thin shard of glowing purple crystal, held in a leather-gloved hand. "And by the shape and size of it, I'm afraid to tell you that I think your crystal was cut into at least _three_ pieces. Which of course is really bad, because that means you have to find at least two more pieces now, instead of one. Also, I visited Jack and Sarah Jane and told them about everything. They're... well, they're getting along fine. Sorry, I'm in a terribly good mood right now. Oh, and you are aware that there's a Dalek repeatedly running into the wall behind you, right?"

"Damnit!" Donna screamed.

* * *

><p>The bartender's eyes traveled across his bar, across the entire pub, over its dusty, barren seats and broken tables, only about two of which, out of several, were occupied. A couple was attempting to casually share one of the tiny seats while another was filled by a small man studying a beer that had, out of the total of an hour, on sip taken from it. A fourth and final man, tall and lanky, was quietly drowning himself in his glass a few feet away in one of the barstools. His eyes grazed over the dirty glass in his hand, being run over by a rag that was at least twice as dirty. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."<p>

This sentence, more of a grunt than proper English, was addressed to a tall, smartly-dressed ginger woman who was leaning on the bar for all it was worth, frowning fiercely.

"The human does not under-_stand!_" She spat in a thick, over-pronounced tone. "You are not aware of the danger that I speak of! The foolish Doctor has trapped me in this primitive life-_form_, but it will not stop me!"

He looked up, very slowly, after taking his time inspecting a chip in the glass. "If you're looking for a drink, you're not getting one. You're drunk enough as it is. Poor woman. I'd give you a hand home, or at least some money for a cab, but I'm a bit busy." he leaned forward, eyes narrowed dangerously. "And _poor_. Now get out."

Her eyes narrowed as well. "The human seeks recompense and _pay_-ment?" She frowned and growled to herself, stepping away from him and back onto the street. "I must change my strategy, to meet the demands of these primitive life-_forms! _I will not fail! I am _Da_-lek!"

She whooshed into the bustle of the street with impressive ease.

* * *

><p>Rose sighed and pressed a hand to her temple, leaning against the TARDIS console. Crazy purple crystal, and now Donna was a Dalek? Could this day get anymore unpredictable?<p>

Seconds later, she remembered her motto never to speak those words as they were directly addressed by fate.

Looking disheveled and for all the world beaten, hair a tangled, curly amassment, dark brown cargo pants and shirt of a lighter shade ripped, panting heavily, River Song appeared in a dark corridor of the TARDIS. Her eyes scanned the console room, in a frenzied, hungry way, and finally landed on Rose. They narrowed. "Rose Tyler, right? I remember you! Remember me? River Song, archeologist!" She smiled in a sudden, snappy way that startled Rose. "Have you by any chance seen a Dalek pass through here?"

Feeling a bit cranky, and not at all ready for surprises such as this one, she replied, "Yes, and it's now been filled with Donna Noble, so no _serious_ worries there. Nice to see you again, by the way."

She straightened, adjusting the tattered cargo pants, eyes still scanning the room in a hunted fashion. "Same to you. Sounds like I've come in on a bad time."

"A bit, yeah," the blonde grumbled. "We've got a crystal that specializes in body switching."

"Fantastic," she smoothed back the hopeless tangle on her head. "I love good adventures like that. You'll have to excuse me, I just spent the last week running through the TARDIS looking for an exit. I was being chased by prison guards, you see," she smiled again in that snappy way. "So I had to use the last bit of battery power on my Vortex Manipulator to come here. But I messed up the coordinates, in my panic, and ended up in the completely wrong room of the TARDIS. I'd been following that Dalek out."

Rose blinked, very slowly. "You thought teleporting to the most unpredictable ship in the universe was a good idea?"

"Not really, no," she said. "But I wanted to visit my husband."

"Sorry, husband?"

"Long story. Kind of husband. Not really. It was a fake version of him, to be honest. But sort of, in a way, my husband, yes. Do you have any electron chargers?"

"This is going to be a long day," Rose sighed.

* * *

><p>DALEK DONNA LOLOLOLOL<p>

Man, River is fun.


	8. Chapter 8 The Rushing River

River is more fun that a truckload of **Hossluvers**.

Actually no, I take that back. Even a bucketful of Hossluvers is super sweet. Not to mention, she is a beast. A beast which has resurfaced. To read this story.

Good girl.

Onto slightly more important things:

For the -10 of you who stalk me on DeviantArt, you may have noted that this story is not yet posted on there. That is because I'm working on getting Lost Companions posted to some groups on there so it can get more publicity. THEN I will put up this one. I'm not doing it now because it just doesn't feel worth it yet.

NOW, words.

...And a cliffy! :D

* * *

><p>"So they're like UNIT?" Clyde asked the Xylok slowly, fingers clenched together as he returned to his old habit of fidgeting.<p>

"Yes," Mr. Smith replied. "To an extent. Torchwood has several different locations, but each are much more smaller than anything UNIT has, and they are independent."

"So what do they do?" Rani asked from where she sat in the desk chair, glasses balanced on the tip of her nose, wheeling back and forth between the window and the conversation.

"They collect alien artifacts and creatures, study them, destroy them if necessary, or instead keep them for developing their own equipment further."

She shook her head, studying the floor. "So why would Sarah Jane suddenly bring this place up? She never has before."

"And why was she acting like that?" Clyde mused.

She sighed, leaning back in the chair, which let out a thin protesting squeak. "I don't know, Clyde. We've made no progress on that question, so we might as well at least try to get somewhere with this whole 'Torch-whatever' thing."

"I'm thinking," he said, "But she's never mentioned this place before, and nothing else like it, except UNIT. I don't know what to say."

"If I could speak," Mr. Smith said.

"Yeah?"

"I've ran scans on her current temperament, as well as how she was acting before, and the only event that coincides with this is her visit to the meteor."

"So you think it might have something to do with it?" Rani said, sitting up.

He was silent for a moment. "I am near the point of being certain."

"Well, Clyde," Rani murmured after a pause. "Maybe it's time we did some field-work."

* * *

><p>"The absolutely fantastic thing about a sandwich," River said through a mouthful. "Is how great it tastes after having eaten close to nothing for a week."<p>

Rose looked dejectedly at the glass floor of the TARDIS beneath her and ran a hand through her hair. River had, since arriving, ran upstairs to take a shower, found fresh clothes, and returned to the console floor with a turkey sandwich in her hand, and Rose was in no mood how to ask how she'd acquired it. Her eyes fixed lazily on the central pillar of the console, moving steadily up and down, up and down, colors swimmy in her vision. "I wouldn't know," she mumbled.

The archeologist shrugged. "No matter. So tell me about this crystal thing."

"It's from another Universe, and it makes people body-switch."

"Hmm," she swallowed. "Any specific kind of body-switching?"

She frowned, thoughts in a hazy state. "Trans-molecular... something-or-other."

River's mouth opened again to speak, but just then the TARDIS door opened and the Doctor slipped in. "Rose! Martha found another piece of crystal, so we're in luck! As much as I hate having the thing in here, I have to so I can run scans on it." He bounded over to the console. "Just putting it right here, and then activate the force-generator, reverse the polarity of the mechanism's core, adjust the heat... and, that should do it. Remember, don't touch the thing. We're trying to deal with Donna right now." He headed back to the exit. "Hi, River."

His hand stopped on the door, and he turned, very slowly. "_Hi_, River."

She beamed, a trickle of madness in her expression. "Hello, sweetie."

"How did you...?"

"Mistake with the Vortex Manipulator. Don't worry about it too much. Although," she gave him an appraising look. "Since we're married and all, I do appreciate your concern."

His demeanor sharpened dramatically. "Not married, River. You married the Teselecta. Not me. There's a difference."

"Ah, see, but you were _in _the Teselecta. And you told them to marry me. So still you."

He pressed his lips together. "I only married you to save the world. It was the only way I could get you to put time back on the right track."

As this conversation went on, Rose's head bobbed between the two speakers, trying with extreme determination to hold on to the topic. She was quickly getting lost. "Sorry, 'time back on the right track'? Mind explaining?"

River sighed. "Long story. Doctor, you may have done it to save the world, but don't try to tell me that you don't have feelings for me."

"I'm a Timelord," he snapped, opening the TARDIS door. "I can't pay attention to those sort of things. Now if you will excuse me, I have a Dalek experiencing a mental breakdown to deal with." And with that he was gone.

Before Rose could get a word in edgewise, River was on the other side of the console, studying the crystal with a critical expression, her sandwich forgotten. "Never mind him. So how does this thing work?"

"Touch it, you get switched," she grumbled, eyes still fixed on the doors as she tried to figure out what exactly had just happened.

"Hmm. And you say it's from a different Universe?" Her hand floated upward, seemingly with a mind of it's own.

"Don't touch it!" She warned, getting to her feet. "And yes."

Her hand didn't move, but she gave Rose a cautious glance. "What trouble has it caused so far?"

She moved behind River, looking over her shoulder at the crystal. It pulsed bright purple with barely-contained energy. "Donna's become a Dalek, and vice-versa, and there were two others who touched it when the Doctor first found out about it, but we don't know where they are."

"Or who, I'm assuming?"

"No, no idea. The Doctor thinks it might have been aliens, or UNIT. Something like that."

River straightened up, hands on her hips, watching the crystal with an odd expression. "So what progress have you made in fixing up this whole mess?"

Rose blinked, slightly taken aback. "Well, none really. The Doctor's been trying to get a piece of the crystal to study, but the first one got touched by Donna. Martha just found this one, though, which is good."

She frowned. "So the crystal just kind of... flies off when it's touched?"

"Well, yeah."

"I wonder what would happen if it was in the TARDIS."

"The Doctor was theorizing about it earlier," Rose supplied. "He thinks, since it's from a different Universe, and from the bit of scans that he got before Donna's... issue, that it wouldn't really matter what was in its way. He explained it better, I don't know. Some sort of scientific theory thing, about the speed of the object being faster than the speed of time. You should ask him about it, I can't explain this stuff."

"No, he never does it well himself," she grinned at her. "So, what do you think we should do now?"

"What do you mean?" the blonde frowned.

"Well, we've got to be helpful in some way. And how do you think we should go about doing it?"

Her eyes grazed over the crystal. "I'm not sure. This is more his thing. It's advanced and everything, from another world and all. Not my kind of stuff."

"Forget him! I've certainly convinced myself that it's _my_ kind of stuff." She leaned down by the crystal. "And _I_ think the way to find our solution is to embrace the problem."

Rose felt her spirits sink, and she couldn't immediately understand why. "What do you mean?"

"Well, won't these things make more sense _during_ the problem instead of _around_ it?"

Her heartbeat increased. "This thing is Chaos. The Doctor says it doesn't follow normal rules."

"Sure, of course it doesn't. There's no such thing as a 'normal' rule, Rose. But everything has rules, in their own way. You just have to get to the core of the problem to find them." River turned and looked at her. Her eyes were sparkling with something she didn't like at all.

"I'm not so sure, River. I don't think this is the sort of problem that we need to be fierce about."

The archeologist leaned back on her heels. "I don't necessarily _need_ your agreement to do it."

Rose took a step back. "You're crazy! We can't just... that thing is _teeming_ with Chaos. All sorts of stuff could go wrong. He said it has some sort of consciousness, or something. We don't want it to get an imprint of us!"

"Don't be silly, it can't eat us," River leaned forward dangerously. "No harm in trying, I say. It'll get us further than this strategy is."

She sharpened. "No, River. Don't. Okay?"

She looked away, expression unreadable. "Fine."

"I'm going to go get the Doctor," Rose said, head buzzing. "You should talk to him, he can explain all of this much better."

She turned towards the exit, but suddenly, quick as a flash, River's hand wrapped around her arm. "Sorry, Rose," she said, and picked up the crystal with a grin.

* * *

><p>HEEEEEEEEEEEEHEEEE.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9 Wails and Whimpers

Gah. I'm enjoying myself too much. But for some reason this chapter was just PAINFUL to write. XD

* * *

><p>Rose groaned in pain. She rolled over on her side, clutching her stomach, head spinning in throbbing agony. A painful whirring was going on in her head. She was very vaguely aware that something was wrong, but she couldn't place it, or remember it, or focus on it through the aching.<p>

"Hey, hey, are you alright?" A voice said. It sounded tortuously familiar, in a foreboding kind of fashion that startled Rose.

"What the hell?" she asked. Speaking made her head reel even faster. Her subconscious seemed to be trying to warn her that something was wrong with her voice, but she wasn't sure what.

"C'mon, sit up," the voice replied. "Slowly, careful now," Rose did as she was told and finally, hesitantly, opened her eyes.

Hovering over her, with a sort of bemused, almost wary expression, was herself.

Her memories returned in the form of a sudden, red-hot flood of anger. "River? River, is that you?"

"It's possible," she replied. "Come on, stand up," she held out her arm and Rose staggered without grace to her feet. She watched herself run down the ramp leading to the doors of the TARDIS and poke her head out of one of them. She giggled, in a very guilty, mad, and highly un-Rose-ish way. "The defensive mechanisms of the TARDIS contained the explosion. It's only been about ten minutes, no one's come in to check on us, and no one knows what happened. We got lucky!"

Very, very slowly, Rose reached behind her and touched the back of her head. The hair upon it was in a messy bun, consisting of wildly curly hair. With barely-contained fear, she took a strand and held it up to her eyes. Brown, light brown.

"River! Look at what you did!" It was now beyond apparent what was wrong with her voice.

"I know, isn't it great?" she laughed as she walked back to stand in front of Rose. "And the best bit is that no one knows this has happened. We can completely keep it to ourselves!"

"Well obviously we have to," she growled. "I'm not going to weigh down the Doctor with the trouble of this, among everything else he has to deal with! I don't get why this should make you so happy, though."

"Because we're going to fix all of this. By ourselves," she replied, stalking over to the side of the console. "Look, the Doctor's theory was right. The crystal broke right through the TARDIS without even touching it. It was moving faster than time itself." she leaned down. "Fascinating."

_Oh, this is fascinating, too,_ Her voice commented in Rose's head a moment later.

"Hell! How did you do that?" She yelped, jumping back.

_Remember? You told me about it a while ago. If the two people switched are of the same gender, they develop a mental link. That's clever. Now we can tell each other how to act, and we can split up to investigate._

Rose was curious, and tempted, but resisted. "No! River, I'm not helping you in your scheme. I was forced into..." she looked down at herself. "_This_, but I'm not doing any more."

"Well, you do realized you're going to have to pretend to be me," she replied. "So it would help if you can do the mind-thing."

_You are so dead,_ she thought, fuming.

"I know. But you won't kill yourself, so that's alright," River beamed wildly. Rose found the look to be highly disturbing on her own face.

_This better not be permanent_, She added as she watched, slightly enthralled and slightly disturbed, as River stalked up to the edge of the console balcony and looked up into a reflective beam along the roof of the TARDIS. She admired herself within it, adjusting her hair and straightening her outfit.

"I never wear my hair like that," Rose commented, albeit reluctantly.

"See? We still need each other," River smiled again – she was beginning to find it irritating – and readjusted the blonde locks. "Like this?"

"Better. It'll do," she grumbled. "What about me?"

"Oh, who cares? I never do."

It was beginning to occur to Rose how terribly, terribly wrong all of this was.

"Now, I say we go and-" the former Archeologist paused. "Ssh, do you hear that?"

"Wha-"

"_Ssh._" She took a step forward, eyes narrowed, watching the parameter of the TARDIS carefully. "Something is..." Quick as a flash, River lunged forward and took from the holster at Rose's hip a long, thin gun, which she aimed at a dark, shadowy spot at the entrance into a hallway beneath the console that led off the main stairs to the right.

"Whoever's there," she said slowly. "Better come out now. I know how to use this."

Rose blinked in surprise at the holster, seeing the other one on the other side of her belt. "Wow, these are really nice guns, River."

"You're right, and they're low on ammo, too," she raised her voice. "Which means I'm reluctant to shoot, so whoever that is has a chance if they come out _now_."

Slowly, sheepishly, holding a rusty steel crowbar in her left hand, Martha came out from the shadows.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" River snapped.

"...Most of it. Okay, all of it," Martha sighed.

She returned the sigh irritably and lowered her gun, shoulders relaxing. "Martha, you can't tell anyone!" Rose yelped. "We don't want the Doctor finding out."

"Yes, I heard that bit too," she said.

River groaned and carelessly tossed the gun back to Rose, who only barely managed to catch it. "How did you get back there?"

"I came in about ten minutes ago, and I didn't see you guys on the floor, so I just thought you were in different rooms, and then I went down here, and when I came up I could hear you two talking."

Rose shook her head, stunned. "What are you even doing in here?"

She hefted up the crowbar and gave them a weak smile. "Donna got stuck in a crack in the concrete wall outside."

"Ow," Rose said helpfully.

River ran forward suddenly, grabbing Martha's arm as she led her up to the door. "Martha, you tell no one, got it?"

"Wasn't planning on it," she frowned. "I've got enough to worry about."

She sighed as she cracked the door. "A forty-five degree angle usually works with the crowbar. Good luck."

* * *

><p>About half an hour later, Donna was swirling in a dejected circle in an empty, chipped part of the parking lot. Martha watched her from a distance, frowning. She couldn't even begin to imagine how the girl must be feeling. With a restless toss and a loud clang, she abandoned the crowbar by a pile of trash and walked over to the Dalek.<p>

"Donna?" she said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

Her slow circle, which was beginning to cause dark tracks in the cement, was halted. She turned, very slowly, and the red diode focused on Martha. "Sorry, I seem to have temporarily forgotten what the word 'okay' means."

"That bad?" she said sympathetically, sitting cross-legged besides her.

"No, not that bad, in fact very much worse. There is absolutely no one else who can understand what's happened to me."

_Except maybe Rose or Sarah Jane, or maybe Jack_, Martha thought drily. In all honesty, though, she was worried about her friends. They were strained under the burden of their misfortunes, and she was the outsider, the only other one who knew. In a sense, they were all depending on her. Depending on her to keep her mouth shut, or check up on them to make sure they were okay. "I'm sure it's not _all_ that bad Donna. At least you're not dead. It's possible that your nervous system wouldn't have been able to handle the Dalek body, and you could've died. That's why the Doctor was so worried about you."

"Well sure," she growled. "But who's to say that the Dalek himself hasn't run off and gotten me killed? What will I do then?"

"Fair enough," Martha said. "But I'm sure the situation will improve. The Doctor's on the case. It has to."

A low, darkish, growl-like sound erupted from Donna. Martha was startled for a moment until she realized it was laughter – she'd never heard a Dalek laugh before. "We put so much trust in him, don't we? One of these times he's got to fail, Martha. I'm not saying I don't trust him. It's just common sense."

She moved forward a few feet. "C'mon, back to the TARDIS. You're right when you say there's no point sulking out here."

"That's the old Donna," Martha tried with a feeble smile.

* * *

><p>Heheheheeh.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10 More To It

For some reason this chapter was just FILLED with typos.

I hope I got them all.

By the way guys, don't forget to leave a review. I love 'em.

* * *

><p>Jack leaned on the dark red cement wall outside of Number 13, frowning slightly. He adjusted Sarah Jane's jacket with distaste – he hated her wardrobe choice – and let his eyes travel along the street, watching with hawk-like precision the goings-on of Bannerman Road. A flower truck was parked outside across the street. He was under the impression that this belonged to Rani's mother, who owned a flower shop that she treated with frenzied care. The car was still and silent, as well as the houses along the road. A leaf drifted lazily along his path. The entire area was unnaturally empty and quiet.<p>

Jack was tired and strained. The pressure that came from attempting to be Sarah Jane all day was close to torturous. For god's sake, she was a woman daft and old-fashioned enough to keep a key in her flower pot. She hunted aliens, and kept a _key_ in a _flower pot_, which could be used to let anything in. He didn't know whether to be impressed by her confidence, or irritated by her stupidity. All he could settle on was that it was mad.

Although he couldn't be certain, it seemed like her two alien-hunting friends were watching him with dangerous, untrustworthy glares, as though they already knew what he was up to. It wasn't possible that they normally treated her like that, was it? They couldn't. From what he'd seen, Clyde and Rani seemed like good kids. Could it be possible that they were onto him?

Sarah Jane had said they were smart.

No, no, he was pretty certain that he was doing alright. A smile there, do some friendly, motherly behavior, worry about the two kids, chat with Rani's parents. He'd almost, in some way, entered a rhythm. He had things down. Nothing could stop him.

Little did he know, the one thing that was beyond capable of throwing Jack off was walking down the street.

Jack narrowed his eyes and frowned. The tall, self-important shape was walking with an air that translated to him this woman thought she was queen of all. He was certain he knew her. He stood up straight, squinting into the sun. The fiery reddish hair came into view, and Jack beamed.

Donna Noble.

He very nearly ran forward and called out her name, until he remembered who he was supposed to be. But again, he washed away his hesitation. Sarah Jane had been at the Medusa Cascade. The two of them had met. His lips opened again, but then he stopped. Donna was acting odd.

The former companion of the Doctor was stooped slightly, eyes narrowed in an untrustworthy fashion, watching the streets as though death would turn the corner at any second. She was opening trash cans, looking into them, then pushing them away with distaste and stalking off again.

Jack frowned. He thought of the crystal.

"Donna! Donna Noble!" He finally called, waving at her. She raised her head in a sudden, snappish motion, and glared at Jack with a wary expression.

"How have you been?" He continued as he reached her. "Come inside, we can talk." Before she could protest, he took her arm and pulled her into Sarah Jane's house.

"I have no time for this human sociali_za_tion! I must hurry to build an _ar_my!"

"Thought so," Jack muttered under his breath, no hesitation as he pulled the protesting Donna up the stairs.

Once in the room, he called, "Mr. Smith! I need you!" The computer responded quickly and he added the command, "Forcefield, please." He shoved Donna forward and she was trapped in the electric beam.

"I don't understand, Sarah Jane," Mr. Smith said slowly. "What makes this woman dangerous?"

"Mr. Smith," Jack bulldozed over his question without an answer. "Can you keep the forcefield up while going dormant? I'd like to keep this conversation private." He tried his best to keep his tome sweet.

"Certainly," the computer murmured slowly, and his screen went dark. The forcefield didn't even flicker.

"There," Jack muttered, his friendly demeanor gone. "Now who are you?"

The Dalek made to run towards him, but was instantly knocked back by the forcefield. It shook Donna's head in irritation. "This is _blas_phemy! This human body has no protection or _wea_pons! The Doctor has trapped me _well_."

"What are you?" he mused to himself. "The inflections you're using are familiar… what species does that?"

"Who are you? I demand _free_dom! Why have you trapped me?"

He snapped his fingers and looked up. "Dalek! Now how the hell did Donna get in the same room with the crystal _and_ a Dalek?"

"I demand _wea_ponry!" it cried. "I demand defensive capa_bil_ities!"

"Well, you're certainly going to get something!" Jack cried, pleased. "I'm glad I caught you. I need to call Martha and get her over here. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you again."

"You speak of _cap_ture! Im_pris_onment! Fear me, for I am _Da_lek! I could destroy you!"

"No you can't, I'm imm-" his stomach dropped. Was he still immortal? Or did Sarah Jane hold that power? Or maybe… it was neither of them? In fact, now that he thought about it, it was possible that this entire event could cancel out his immortality all together. He didn't know what to think.

"I will not allow you to _cap_ture me!" The Dalek cried.

He shook his head "You don't have much of a choice. Mr. Smith?"

The lights reappeared on the computer's screen. "Yes?"

He crossed the room and picked up a long rope, wrapping it around his forearm. "You can drop the forcefield." He smiled. "This rope will do fine on its own."

* * *

><p>Gwen let her finger rotate around the flat edge of the rock-ish object. It spun in a slow, almost melancholy way. "We think it's a transmission, Jack," She explained, beaming.<p>

"What?" Sarah Jane said, trying to use the sort of inflections Jack might. "You mean it has some sort of a message on it?"

"Exactly," Rhys said from where he stood on the other side of the examination table. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Well alright." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know how it works yet?"

Gwen frowned. "Well no, not really. It doesn't seem to respond well to our equipment. It's almost impossible to get readings off of it."

"Hmm, well, keep up the work. It could be a distress call," Sarah Jane nodded affirmatively.

"Or an alien species that's out to kill us," Rhys muttered.

"Well let's try to stay positive," she instantly felt her stomach drop –that was hardly a Jack-like thing to say. In an attempt to recover, she added, "After all, we could use their remains to develop something better."

Gwen laughed, and Sarah Jane let out a small sigh of relief. "Sure, Jack, if you say so. Come on, Rhys. Let's try and put it under the scanner again."

Sarah Jane sighed in exhaustion and headed back to Jack's office. This wasn't easy, not at all. She'd thought that she'd be able to pull it off. After all, the most she'd seen Jack do was flirt and die. Child's play, right? Chat up Gwen, tell Rhys to calm down as she did so. Tell those two to work harder and stop making out. In fact, the first time Sarah Jane had met Captain Jack Harkness, he'd left her slightly repulsed. He was robust, almost always out of line, and utterly impossible to deal with. She was beginning to think now, however, that there was a bit more to him than she'd first thought.

She sat down in his swivel chair, took a pen from the desk and tapped it against her lips, deep in thought. Why didn't she give him more credit when they'd first met? For example, all she had to do was look at his base. It was beautiful, high-tech, and utterly hidden, kept underground, protected by all sorts of different defensive mechanisms, and nearly impossible to break into. The perfect base. The work he'd must of gone to in order to set the place up left Sarah Jane baffled.

He was clever, he was resourceful, and very intelligent. He could live forever, after all. What all had he seen? What had he been through? She frowned, shaking her head. There was no doubt - she had definitely read him incorrectly the first time they'd met. In his own, special way, he was noble. He led his own life, hidden from everyone else, powerful and silent, strong and without hesitation. Sarah Jane looked out the window at the base beneath her. What horrors had this room seen? How many of them had he caused?

Oh yes. There was definitely more to Jack Harkness than met the eye.

* * *

><p>"Empty. Totally and without a doubt empty," Clyde grumbled.<p>

Rani straightened up from where she was crouching be the meteor's crash site. The dark, blackish-red hole was utterly blank and devoid of clues or anything that could give them a lead. In fact, all that remained to give away there having ever been anything here was the charred hole. It had long ago stopped smoking and was cold and quiet. "Yes, I can see that, Clyde."

He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just mad. I _know_ there's something wrong with Sarah Jane. We have to find out what's wrong with her."

"Okay, okay, well," she began pacing, thinking hard. "C'mon. Think about it. There has to be something here that can lead us somewhere."

"The meteor," he replied, looking from the edge of he hill across the empty plains, arms crossed. "Where is it?"

"Sarah Jane said she destroyed it."

"Well yeah," he turned to look at Rani. "But where are the remains? And now that I come to think of it, she always has Mr. Smith destroy alien stuff when it needs to be done. Why didn't she do that with this?"

"Maybe it was something scary," she said after a thoughtful pause. "You know how she always wants to hide the really bad stuff from us."

"Well, okay, maybe. But it still doesn't explain how she's acting."

"Trauma? Maybe it was _that_ scary."

Clyde scoffed. "Rani, we both know that Sarah Jane doesn't do trauma."

"Yeah, I know," she shook her head, looking down. "I guess I'm just kind of looking for excuses for her. I don't want there to be something wrong."

He sighed. "I don't either. But if there is a problem, we have to know what to do."

They were both quiet for a moment, and then Rani huffed, "I know I should drop it, but... This thing is from a different Universe, right? What if it really _was_ that bad? What if it really did scare her out of her wits? Before we go mad assuming things, we should talk to her."

He nodded slowly. "Okay. C'mon, let's go."

* * *

><p>WOW, no cliffie.<p>

I'll be dropping a big one in a later chapter though... heehee...


	11. Chapter 11 Roadblocks

Meep. WORRRDDDSSS.

Man, I'm so lazy. Be happy this thing got posted. XD

* * *

><p>"Yes, hello? Hi, Martha? Calm down, it's Jack. What? Of course you couldn't recognize my voice, I <em>am<em> Sarah Jane after all. Yes, I know you're busy, but this is important. I found Donna. No, I know you have Donna, I mean I found her body. What? No, of course she's not dead! I mean the Dalek that's Donna. Martha, I just said that! This is body-switching after all! It's impossible to get the right terminology. But anyways, I got the Dalek. You guys _were _looking for it, right? It's currently tied to a chair in Sarah Jane's room. I need you to come and get it. What do you mean you can't? Martha, I know you're busy. What? Who else has the crystal switched? What do you mean you can't tell me, who am I going to blab to? Hey! Sarah Jane doesn't count. Martha, I can't just leave the thing tied here, how do you think Clyde and Rani will react when they see I have a writhing ginger woman tied to a chair in my room? No, they're _always_ in the attic. And I can't leave her there anyway, after all I'm surprised Mr. Smith hasn't asked questions yet. Martha, I _need_ you to come get it. I can't keep this thing any longer. I'm not harassing you, this is important! Martha? Martha! Oh, hell."

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> it's gone?" The Doctor's hands twitched compulsively. "As far as I'm aware, crystals don't get up and walk away."

Rose leaned back and tried to adjust herself in what she hoped was a River-ish way on the edge of the TARDIS console. "It's not _my_ fault, Doctor. One minute it's here and when I come back it's not."

He began pacing, rubbing his hands together. "But it's impossible for it to have just disappeared. It's an inanimate object. Granted, one with a consciousness, but it _can't move._"

She rubbed the side of her neck idly and shrugged with indifference.

_Give him some suggestions as to what to do_, River's voice pierced suddenly into Rose's mind.

She started and quickly tried to hide it. _How do you know what's going on in here?_

_You're thinking about how I act, so therefore you're thinking about me, so therefore I'm hearing your thought process._

_Okay, well what should I suggest to him?_ Rose watched as he paced fitfully back and forth, head bowed in thought.

_Oh, I don't know. I just need him distracted._

_What are you even doing?_

_Looking for the last of the three pieces of crystal that we haven't come across yet._

_I thought you said we didn't need a crystal! _

_No, no, we do, I just had to touch that one so that we could be switched. Think of it as a setback._

The Doctor looked up suddenly at Rose. "I don't like this at all, River. It's not natural. We _need_ to find that crystal piece, and I mean _that_ one in particular."

Seeing her chance, she replied, "I agree. Where do you think we should look?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not a question of _where_, it's a question of _how_. There's no possible way that this thing's left the TARDIS. I need equipment, though. The scans I already have on my screwdriver should be enough to hunt down the thing, but I need the right parts to build a tracking device..." As he finished this sentence, he was heading towards a staircase leading up, out of the console room. "Rory, come on, you can help."

Rory looked up in surprise from where he'd been talking with Amy. "What, me?"

He was already halfway up the stairs. "You're the only Rory I'm aware of! Cmon!"

Amy watched her husband go with one eyebrow half-raised. After they were gone, she turned to Rose. "So, River, nice to see you again."

_Oh, this'll be good, _River muttered in her head.

Rose swallowed and increased the angle at which she was leaning on the console. "You too, Amy. Not traveling with him anymore, I see."

She shrugged placidly. "He kicked us out, but... I suppose the day always comes when it's time to go."

She nodded in what she hoped was an appreciative way. "So, this crystal business. You know anything about it?"

"What, this disappearing one? I'm totally clueless. I don't get how the thing could just disappear."

She managed to choke out a weak laugh and said, "It's just like me to show up, right in the middle of this."

Amy tossed her head. "I've gotten used to it. Have you been staying out of trouble?"

_Mostly_, River supplied, and Rose repeated it.

She smiled. "Good. Well, I'm going to go check on Donna and Martha. Even _I'm_ surprised that they haven't managed to get inside yet. Don't do anything crazy."

"Wasn't planning on it," Rose muttered, and sent the mental image of spears going into flesh towards River. The reply was the sound of laughter in her head.

* * *

><p>"Who was that on the phone?" Donna asked in a knowing voice as Martha lowered the cell.<p>

"Um," she swallowed. "Jack. He's worried about this whole fiasco. Just wanted to check up on me."

"What, does he know what's happened to me too?"

They were standing together about twenty feet from the TARDIS as Donna attempted to steer straight towards the ship. The Dalek casing seemed to be resisting all her commands, and it wasn't helping that every time she tried to operate it, she had to once again come to grips with the fact that she was now a squid. In simpler terms, things were not working out well.

"Um, well I..." Martha's eyes scraped across the empty parking lot. "He really wants updates as to what's going on. Him knowing can't hurt anyone."

"Yes well," she succeeded with infuriating ease in going in exactly the opposite direction. "Keep it up, Martha, and it'll be in the papers."

"Oh, shh. I know you're mad and angry and stressed and all that, but no need to take it out on me. I'm trying my best here."

After a moment of stalling, she ended up swerving left. "Seems like you're the one who's stressed. What's on your mind?"

She shrugged and looked away. "A lot of people just seem to need my attention right now. And what with this crystal and all, it's almost impossible to focus on anything. I just feel like there's way too much going on right now. Then again, I suppose that's Chaos for you. Listen Donna, there has to be some sensible way to operate that stupid casing."

"Since when were Daleks sensible? And what do you mean, everyone needs your attention? Things don't seem _too_ bad to me yet. All _I_ have to deal with is being an alien species, nothing worse."

She gave Donna a withering look and muttered, "This crystal's just very capable of causing trouble is all. One of these days I'll explain it."

Just then, the TARDIS doors opened and Amy stepped out. She looked up and waved at them. "Hello! Having troubles?"

"That's one way to word it," Donna grumbled as she found that her eyestalk was suddenly rotating in a circle for no apparent reason, and showing no signs of stopping.

"Sorry Donna, rough luck," She gave her a sympathetic glance. "Any way I can help? Rory's off looking for parts or something-another for the Doctor's next great scheme."

"Why, what's up?" Martha asked.

"Apparently the crystal piece that you found disappeared." She sighed. "This thing just keeps getting worse."

She swallowed and looked away with an awkward expression. "Weird. I hope he can find it."

"Same here. In all honesty, this thing's scaring me a bit. I mean, it's turned Donna into a Dalek, who knows what else it's capable of? And when the Doctor was scanning it, and it had it's own thoughts? Now that's just creepy."

Donna had finally gotten control of her eyestalk. "The moment he gets it, the closer he gets to helping me. That's all I'm worried about."

"Agreed," Martha nodded. "I'll just be happy when this is all over. This thing has caused loads of trouble already and it's only been, like, a day? Well, at least it's the _end_ of the day. Nice sunset, too. I wish I could go out and help look for that crystal, but in all honesty I'm tired. I did hear that Rose is out there looking for it. Man, she's so dedicated. I hope she finds it. Well anyways, let's try to get inside. Ehm- I don't really think I meant _that_ fast, Donna."

This last sentence was said because Donna had finally found the accelerate and had slammed at full speed into the side of the TARDIS.

* * *

><p>Heeee. I'm so excited for the next chappie.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12 No Sleep

Wow. I have nothing to say but wow.

What has it been, like, a week? I'm just sad. But I will attempt to feed you excuses:

See, the first two days I was sick, and then the third day I wrote some of it, but I was spending the night at a friend's house so I couldn't finish it, and the day after that I was like, "Bleh," and then it was a HOLIDAY, so, y'know, and yesterday? Yesterday I was just procrastinating. Sorry.

But, anyways, here it is. And I like this chapter SO THERE.

* * *

><p>"What I don't get," Rory said as he poked his head out from beneath two boxes, "Is why we're doing this to begin with."<p>

The Doctor's hand appeared on a dusty shelf on the other side of the room and the rest of him resurfaced shortly after. "Rory, you're kidding, right? It's of absolute importance that we find this crystal."

"Well no, I get that," he replied. "I mean how is doing _this_ going to help us?"

"This piece of crystal that's somehow managed to move itself might be the only piece that has that power. We need to find out why. I can track it, but I need to build a tracking device first. And now we're here."

They were in an old, cellar-like room within the TARDIS that housed several different crates and boxes filled with supplies the Doctor hoped he could use to find the crystal. He had enlisted Rory to help him in his search, and they'd been working for several hours since.

"What about this?" Rory asked. He was holding up a small, bent metal object that vaguely resembled a whisk.

"That's a whisk, Rory. I don't need it. Well-" His head popped up again. "No, no, nevermind, I don't need it."

He tossed it to the other side of the room with a frown. "So do you have any idea how the crystal did that?"

"I have plenty of ideas," He said as he dug around in a pile of heavy-looking metal objects. "But I'm not leaning towards any of them yet."

"Like what?"

"It's possible that we have a traitor," He muttered as his head reappeared once again. "Or maybe someone who touched the crystal and is trying to hide it. But if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that it hasn't left the TARDIS."

Rory frowned. "But you said that it's possible this thing could move faster than time, or something like that, and then go through the TARDIS."

"Well yes, that was a theory," he said slowly. "But from the scans I got before the crystal disappeared, I've found that that's not possible. The only way it could have left was if someone took it. And somehow, I don't think that happened. Even if one of us is a traitor, I don't think any of us would go for a scheme like that."

"Maybe River," he suggested.

"No, that's not her sort of thing," The Doctor replied dryly. "Put this over there, we might be able to use it," he added as he tossed Rory a long, thin metal pipe.

He threw it to the other side of the room. "Doctor, it's getting late. Are we even close to being done yet?"

"Yes, I know, and no, we're not. The TARDIS has its own timestream anyways, so technically it's not nighttime yet."

"But the lights are in nighttime mode, and everyone else is asleep."

"Besides the point," he said as he stood and stalked over to a tall, dark brown box closer to the center of the room.

Rory sighed. "What about this?" he was holding up a thick pile of black cords.

"Oh, yes, definitely, put those in the pile."

"Are you two at all aware of what time it is?" A voice said. Looking up, they saw Martha standing, silhouetted in the light from the doorway. She was in a thick tan robe and held a small black coffee cup between her hands. Dark lines of sleep were beneath her eyes.

"Yes," The Doctor said, and instantly went back to his work.

"Couldn't sleep?" Rory asked her.

She smiled gratefully. "No. And what with all the banging you two are making down here, I'm surprised anyone else has managed."

He sighed, eyes grazing over the boxes around him, some upturned and rummaged through, others still untouched and tightly sealed. "Sorry. He seems really determined to find this one piece of crystal. I don't have much choice."

"It's okay, I don't mind. But it would be nice if you two were quieter."

"Well, yeah, you need to sleep, I know..."

She shook her head, eyes closing. "No, I don't think it will. It's just one of those nights."

"Right," he found himself at a sudden, abrupt loss for words and dove down in hopes of finding something to say amongst the boxes.

"Martha," the Doctor interjected suddenly. He had retrieved from one of the crates a long-ish, metallic rod shaped similarly to a jousting lance. It was covered in something that looked terrifyingly similar to dried blood and had several, thin metal protrusions along the handle, like tiny thorns, some of which were also doused in red. He was holding it between thumb and forefinger with a vaguely disgusted expression. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"Not the faintest," she said bluntly, one eyebrow raised.

"Nor do I," he muttered, and tossed it to the back of the room. "Let's pretend we never saw it."

She smiled bitterly and shook her head, taking a deep drink from the coffee cup, hands wrapped around it in an almost loving way. She'd retrieved it from one of about three kitchens that existed in the TARDIS (and the bathrobe from a spare bedroom). The cup and her happened to have a history. A long time ago, during one of Martha's first adventures with the Doctor, he'd been forced to lure a ravenous alien beast, somewhat similar to a tiger, into the TARDIS so he could trap it properly. However, it had escaped the console room and chased her down into one of the three kitchens. She'd managed to grab a spare black coffee cup off of one of the counters and thrown it at the slathering creature, which had distracted it just long enough for the Doctor to get it under control. Miraculously, the cup hadn't broken, and she'd been fond of it ever since. It was now filled with a light gray tea that she'd made herself.

"Oh, good, I've been needing one of these," the Doctor said as he tossed a thick black object reminiscent of a remote control into the pile.

"Well, I suppose I should leave you to it," Martha said. She'd gotten the idea in her head of a midnight stroll through the TARDIS and was now unable to shake it.

"You could stay and help," Rory offered, looking hopeful. He himself was feeling tired and didn't want to move on to the heavy-looking blue crate to his left, even though he knew he had to.

She hesitated, not wanting to be rude. "Well, I don't know. Is there anything I could do, Doctor?"

"Yes, actually. I need you to separate all of the red objects from the black objects in the pile we've made so far," he said, looking up from his box.

"Alright," Martha sighed. She'd been hoping he'd say no, but there was no avoiding it now.

Rory sifted quietly through the blue crate, not enjoying himself at all. He held up a thin green pipe. "This, Doctor?"

"Yes, that'll do."

Martha caught the pipe and frowned. "What about the other-colored stuff like this, Doctor?"

"Oh, I don't care," he said, waving his arms expressively. "Do with them what you want."

Her frown deepened. "Why does the red stuff have to be away from the black stuff anyways?"

"It's a long story, involving an alien race from your planet's 18th century and a nearby galaxy they were at war with. I'd tell you, but it takes far too long to explain."

She sighed as she began to sift through the objects, by now beyond used to these sort of answers. "Whatever you say."

"Rory, I don't think you're going to find anything else in that crate," The Doctor muttered to him as he saw he was down to his shoulder, hand sifting through the blue crate.

"No, I felt something in here, I don't know what it was," the Roman explained, eyes narrowed in concentration as he dug.

"What was it?" Martha asked.

"I don't know, it just seemed like the sort of thing that might be use- oh," Rory's hand had resurfaced. In his palm was a long, thin purple shard of crystal.

* * *

><p>Oops, look what I did. IT'S A CLIFFHANGER.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13 Searching

Yay! Chapter and everything! :D

* * *

><p>Martha blinked hard several times, head reeling from the explosion. Her extensive training from UNIT kicked in and she lay flat on the ground, checking to make sure all of her limbs were capable of the movement, and slowed her breathing in case anything dangerous was nearby. Was she okay? Injured? What had happened, exactly? Had she been...?<p>

She sat up, moving very slowly and carefully. She didn't seem hurt, and was relieved to see she was positioned in the exact same place in the room as she'd been before. Checking herself, she saw the familiar tan bathrobe, her own pajamas, the dark coffee cup on the ground beside her (still unbroken), trickles of tea having long ago settled into the cracks on the floor.

Still Martha. She was fine.

But – she realized as her spirits sank once more – the Doctor and Rory weren't.

On her feet in an instant, she crossed the room to look for them, and found Rory's body collapsed, half buried beneath a fallen pile of boxes, and the Doctor's strewn over a long gray crate. They _looked_ okay. But of course she should probably take pulses. She should, but she was reluctant. It was almost a guarantee they'd been switched. Instead of worrying about their overall health (despite its importance) she felt she ought to be more focused on finding a way to break it to them gently. She should at least dig Rory (or the Doctor, was it?) out of those boxes.

A few of the dark brown boxes had been removed from him when there was a shout from across the room. Martha reeled in surprise and spun, leaning against the wall behind her.

"What!" said the Doctor, or at least his body.

"What?" Martha managed.

He looked around himself. "What..."

"Er..., Em. Rory?"

His eyes raised and locked on her. "Yes..."

"Gah!" The Doctor yelled from beneath the remaining boxes. Martha reeled once more to face him.

"Doctor?"

He looked over at himself. "Me?"

"Me?" Rory squeaked.

"_You_?"

"_You!_"

"There's me, too," Martha muttered, slumping against the wall.

The Doctor lunged over the fallen boxes that had trapped him. "You touched the crystal! And-" He stopped suddenly and gasped, falling to the side and clutching himself.

"Doctor!" Martha was on her feet in an instant.

He gritted his teeth, kneeling. "One heart," he managed. "Bloody humans..."

As though the Doctor's words reminded him, Rory's hands flew to his chest. "Yours isn't very fun either! How can you handle it, they're so _loud_! That constant _thump-thump-thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump-_"

"Stop that!" The Doctor cried as he jumped to his feet. "We really don't need that now, trust me Rory." He rubbed his forehead. "Well this is great, just brilliant. I'm Rory, you're Doctor. Now what? Any great ideas, Doctor Jones?"

"No," she spluttered, slightly shaken from Rory's rendition of the heartbeat. "How did that crystal even get in there?"

Of course Martha already knew the answer. River's antics had sent it flying through the TARDIS, and by a streak of bad luck, it seemed, it had ended up in here. But she had sworn herself to secrecy – twice now, it seemed – and wasn't about to tell the Doctor.

Granted, Martha wanted to, and thought it to be a much better idea than trying to hide it from everyone, but in all honesty she didn't trust River fully, and thought her to be trigger-happy and unpredictable, ready to snap at any moment. She didn't want to try her luck against that.

"I don't know," the Doctor said, "But it makes me very angry, because it means we have to find the thing all over again. I'm going to be very, _very_ pleased when we're finished with all of this Chaos business. Oh, that's very clever, Rory."

Martha looked up and saw that he was doing nothing out of the ordinary, even though he had a rather bemused expression on his face. "What is it?"

"He's learned the whole telepathic thing," the Doctor replied. "Useful, even if I don't like having this Chaos in my head. Yes, I know Rory."

She frowned, irritated. "What are you two saying?"

"What time is it?" Rory asked suddenly.

She sighed, giving both of them a grudging look, but yanked her phone from her pocket and check anyways. "A little past four in the morning. We've been out cold since about one-thirty."

"Great!" The Doctor clapped his hands together, and put on one of his signature planning expressions. It looked indescribably odd on Rory. "Martha, you're not to tell anyone that this has happened."

If her look didn't say how she felt about that, her next sentence did. "Why the bloody hell would you want me to do that?"

"No, I want you to _not_ do that. I can't have this causing everyone trouble, along with the crystal and Donna. It's a bit too much for everyone, I think. Martha, I know I can trust you, but I need you to say it first. You're not going to tell anyone, right?"

"I won't," she muttered grudgingly.

Rory made a face. "Can we please get some sleep now?"

* * *

><p>River smiled silkily. "Excuse me sir, have you seen anything, oh, I don't know... <em>odd<em> lately?"

Her next victim was a skinny, brown-haired man who had been absorbed in his cell phone before she spoke. He looked up, then around himself at the busy street, then stepped off to her side and said, "Sorry, what?"

She'd been patrolling the city in hope of finding a crystal shard for the past several hours. She'd searched beneath trash cans, around them, in them, in buildings, in countrysides, she'd even scanned the sky with her eyes. When this failed, she'd turned to the innocent bystanders around her to drill them.

To put it simply, her determination was rapidly diminishing.

"I was just wondering, sir," she crooned as sweetly as possible. "If you might have seen anything out of the ordinary lately."

"Like how?" he murmured. He had swimmy blue eyes that were capable of catching most women off guard, a special talent that he appeared to be well aware of. River, however, deflected his charm with terrifying ease, and added pounds of sugar to hers.

"Oh, you know. Just strange things. Like maybe crystals, or explosions. Something like that."

He frowned and pocketed his phone, flipping his hair and leaning down, getting very close to her. "I'm sorry, it's really crowded and loud on this street. Maybe I could hear you better back at my place."

Her silky expression was instantly snapped away. "No thanks."

Knowing he was losing her, he said, "Wait, there was this really pretty crystal-thing I saw outside my flat! You can have it, if you want..."

She was already stalking down the street, fuming, and lost him easily in the thick crowd. However, the crisp, cool air got into her lungs and she soon felt refreshed, irritation long-gone. Despite herself, River couldn't help but enjoy being Rose. There was something thrilling and wild about being able to stalk the streets as someone else, virtually invisible. And when she wasn't in the TARDIS, she didn't even have to _pretend_ to be Rose. She could be herself, being someone else. It was deliciously fun.

Of course River still felt guilty of having done this to Rose. She hadn't really expected her to have reacted so angrily. In all honesty, she thought the spunky blonde would have been pleased that they were making such a brash and exciting attempt to help out. At least that's the way River saw it. From what she'd known of Rose, she thought her thoughts would have been the same.

But yes, she felt guilty. From the short time she'd known Rose, before on that underground moon, and now here, on Earth, she'd liked her. In all honesty, she didn't deserve the stress that came with this body switching.

Speaking of, she'd been rather quiet lately, not hearing a thing from Rose in her head, and this thought brought River back to the present. The full moon was out and the street, when cars weren't going over it, was blanketed in a thin white mist. She let out a long breath that appeared in front of her, frosty in the air, and frowned. She figured they were wondering where she was. It was probably time to head back to the TARDIS.

* * *

><p>I love Rory. He's like this exciting mixture of Arthur Dent and David Rain. It's awesome.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14 Before the Storm

Yay! Word for you!

Kind of a short chapter, though. Sorry.

* * *

><p>The Dalek leaned heavily against its bonds in the chair, with no regard to gravity or the laws of physics, barely paying attention to the dangerous tilt that the chair had away from the floor. It put on a snarling expression, Donna's fierce red hair falling across its face. It glared.<p>

"Now come on, it'll all turn out easier if you just tell me what your plans had been," Jack assured, crossing his arms as he stood in front of it, frowning in mock disappointment.

The Dalek rocked back violently in the chair, thumping the wall behind it, and writhed, fuming in the bonds. It bowed its head, seething, and growled, without looking up: "You are foolish, human. I sought weaponry to destroy your puny planet!"

He stood in silence for a moment and nodded. "Well alright. How were you planning on doing that without backup?"

It howled with rage, tossing Donna's head. "I am Dalek! I am power! I need no backup!"

"Yeah, and I have guns upstairs that could smash through your casing without hesitation. What? Were you going to build a communicator? Send a signal to them?" He frowned. "You know, you've been stuck in the TARDIS for so long, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the last one left, or at least close to that. What if they'd switched ships? What if they were out of range? What would you have done then?"

It made an attempt to stand, but Jack had found a barstool for its cage and it couldn't rise to its feet without falling over. It shook back and forth in the pitiful hope of removing the bonds that way. When it was highly apparent that none of its ideas were going to work, it growled, literally drooling, and spat, "You don't scare me, stupid human woman! I will destroy you!"

Jack shook his head, sighing, and turned to the door to Sarah Jane's room. As he clicked it shut behind him, he heard the sound of the stool clattering to the floor. He smiled slightly to himself as he realized the Dalek was now pinned to the ground.

He turned just in time to see Clyde and Rani coming through the front door. "Hello, you two," he said brightly.

Rani looked up and seemed indescribably relieved. "Sarah Jane! We wanted to talk to you."

Jack's stomach twisted – he'd much rather go upstairs and rest, maybe think of a way to keep this Dalek quiet. But he nodded and gestured in a friendly way to the couch. "Right. What's up?"

Clyde gave an uncomfortable cough as he sat down. "Well, we were just wondering about that crystal."

He put on a relieved expression and waved them away. "Oh, I took care of that, remember? It's all taken care of, no need to worry."

Rani's eyes bore into the wall behind Jack with extreme determination. "That's not it, Sarah. You've seemed sort of off since then. What happened? Are you okay?"

He took a breath and swallowed. "No, really, I'm fine. I've just been... on edge a bit lately, is all. We haven't really gotten any attacks in the longest time. It's been worrying me."

Clyde let out a whoosh of air from between his teeth. "Right, yeah. That's fine, we totally get it Sarah Jane. We're just gonna go in the kitchen. Talk later," he whisked out of the room, and Rani was behind him, shooting Jack an awkward smile.

Clyde turned on Rani the moment they were out of earshot. "Sarah Jane never shares that sort of stuff with us."

"I know," she replies. "She always hides it when she's worried. She never wants us to be worried to."

"There's definitely something bad going on," he muttered.

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane smiled, half to herself and half into the phone, twisting her gloved hand around the glittering shard of crystal. It seemed to glow with its own inner fire, catching the light and flashing brilliantly. "You've got to come pick it up soon, Martha," she told the phone.<p>

"I know," Martha replied. Sarah could hear her excitement. "Where did you find it?"

"Rhys found it, actually," she muttered. "We're lucky it's cold out, because he was wearing gloves. It certainly was a close call, though. Anyway, he said he found it floating in the canal."

"It can float?"

"Apparently." Sarah sighed. "I really don't like this thing. We know close to nothing about it, and we discover new things every time we come across it. Not knowing some of this stuff could get us killed one of these days."

"No kidding," Martha sighed into the phone. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Sarah Jane, I'm really stressed. This is more trouble than I've ever dealt with, and that's saying something, considering I've been with the Doctor."

"You're telling me," she huffed. "Well, anyways, when do you think you can come by?"

There was an uncomfortable pause on the other end. "I don't know. Soon, hopefully. Maybe today. I'll try."

Sarah Jane swallowed. "Okay, but try to hurry. Rhys is really curious about the thing, and I don't want to give anything away. We really should try to keep this a secret, but he's so interested in it."

"I'm sorry," Martha sighed. "I'll try my best. Talk later, Sarah."

"Bye Martha."

* * *

><p>Amy let out a long breath, tapping her fingers along the edge of the TARDIS console, pressing her lips together, deep in thought. She'd never seen the Doctor look as nervous as he had when he'd walked out of his office room that morning. Was he really <em>that<em> stressed about this entire thing? It was a crystal. Granted, a crystal from another universe, that appeared to have its own consciousness, and could body-switch people, feeding off of the energy that created in the form of chaos... but still just a crystal. He wasn't _scared_ of it, was he? It was rare for him to get scared, and she certainly didn't expect that kind of a reaction from him over a bloody gem. But if he was worried, it was serious. Really serious.

He'd seemed to develop a new, somewhat extreme level of focus ever since they'd shown up in the console room, as though he'd do anything to be rid of this issue. She wanted to help him in anyway she could, but she felt distracted and, in her own way, somewhat anxious.

What had it been, two months since they'd last seen him? Sitting at home, being normal, designing a cosmetic line... trying their very best to be normal once more, just how they'd been before their wedding. It wasn't easy, but nothing ever was. They'd actually even been getting somewhere. And then he shows up at the front door, swinging the doors to the TARDIS wide open, Martha, Rose, and Donna behind him, and saying that they need to talk. She shook her head, gripping the console's edge. Here they were again, aboard the TARDIS, and she was about to go mad. Would her life ever get to normal?

Before he'd shown up again, she'd been getting used to normal life, to some extent. She was accepting it. But now she was back in the blue box, and there was nothing she could do about it. She'd have to re-accept her normality again, reattempt to be a part of society. Rather messy, she thought, rather messy.

She knew that if she crossed to the door and looked through the tiny windows above it she'd be able to see Donna, stuck and alone in the Dalek casing, resting outside. The night before she'd gotten into a bit of an argument with the Doctor over what her plan of action should be that had ended with her yelling, "Alright, fine! I'll just sleep outside! See if I care about the fact that I'm stuck in an alien body! I'll be fine! It's actually pretty warm in here!" Amy wondered who really had it the worst out of all of them.

She shook her head and pressed her knuckles to her lips. She needed to stop thinking like this, getting all sentimental and worrisome. What would the Doctor do, she thought. What would he want?

Her help. He needed her help. _Alright,_ she thought to herself. _Let's go find what he needs help with._

* * *

><p><em>RAWRRRR.<em>


	15. Chapter 15 Snakes in the Grass

Oh my god, yes.

For the past like, three chapters, I hadn't really been "feeling it", if that makes sense. The story just wasn't feeling all awesome and delicious the way it normally did. But this chapter put me back on track. Not only is it awesome and (to me) well-written, it's also THE LONGEST ONE EVER.

Win.

* * *

><p>Donna was deeply alarmed when she woke up to see that she was in the corner of a dank, dusty cellar that seemed to be consistently dark brown in every direction. She frowned to herself, worried, but then realized that someone must have brought her inside out of the cold. Rather ruddy of them to put her in a <em>cellar<em>, though.

She sighed, feeling tired and a bit ill. Her argument with the Doctor last night had left her agitated and wide-awake, eventually ending in her falling asleep late at night, fidgety and irritable. The nasty emotions had stuck with her through the night and she didn't feel well now. Her embittered thoughts turned to the previous night.

She hadn't meant to snap or get short with the Doctor, but she had just about had enough of all of this. Being a Dalek certainly wasn't fun to begin with. She'd gotten nowhere in her quest of figuring out how to operate the casing, she felt out of her element and out of control, and the looks of pity she kept receiving were going to drive her mad. The stress, she supposed, had just been building up, and she'd let it out on the Doctor. What had he even been talking about? Something to do with her situation, she thought. They'd just been standing outside, the Doctor and Amy cold while she felt beyond protected in the casing, and talking about what they needed to do to help Donna. Yes, she remembered now, that's what had happened. All the looks of pity the two of them had kept shooting her, it drove her mad. She'd finally snapped over it, and started turning on them. A pang of regret went through her – Amy had looked stunned.

Still, she couldn't help but feel angry. The Doctor quite obviously had no idea what he was doing this time around. It was apparent with every move he made, every tense pause it took before he could give a straight answer to a question, every worried look that crossed his face when he thought the others weren't looking. To Donna, it was clear as day. The Doctor was out of form, out of his comfort zone. He was dealing with an object from another Universe, and it seemed very obvious to her that he didn't know what he was doing. Of course, he usually faked his way through everything, never planning the next step until it was upon him, but this was different. Before, he did it by choice. Now, it was because there were no other options available.

She'd never seen him so out of place, so without control, and it secretly alarmed her. The others constantly smiled at her and said, "He can handle it, he knows what he's doing. He's clever," but she couldn't believe that they actually _meant_ that. He was very much different than she'd ever seen him before. If the Doctor couldn't handle what was going on, then they were in serious trouble.

Donna, like the others, had always kept her faith in him, always believing that he could handle what came their way, that whatever beast appeared could be easily shot down. No enemy was too strong, no plan was foolproof. The Doctor knew his way through everything. But she had seen a change come over him that the others seemed unaware of, a sort of darkness, a blunt rawness that she'd never seen before. He was focused, beyond it, in fact. He seemed determined to do this the right way. The moment the words "crystal" and "chaos" had escaped his lips, he'd been this way.

So it left Donna to wonder – what made this time around different than any other? Just because it was from another Universe didn't mean it was _all_ that dangerous, did it? Did it really mean more danger, more death and trouble, than anything they'd ever faced before? How was that even _possible?_ Being from a different Universe didn't mean you were capable of destroying this one. How could any one thing even have enough power to scare the Doctor into seriousness?

Donna frowned inwardly. Where _was_ she anyways? It seemed to her like it was probably day – if she was in the TARDIS, wouldn't someone have checked on her by now?

As though in answer to her question, she heard a vague thump from upstairs. A door closing. The sound of footsteps, quick and true, striking the dirty ground, and definitely more than one pair of them, coming her way. She felt suddenly nervous and couldn't place why. It drove her mad with paranoia.

Three boys, all of which were slightly grubby and sort of scuffed, with clothes in the same state, as though they'd done a lot of falling over in dirty streets lately, entered the room and jumped down the three steps that led to the threshold, already in conversation. One, with short, light blonde hair, held an ice cream cone in one hand, and the other two (one had spiky black hair and the other longish dirty blonde) had sandwiches. "Well, I just think it's silly," the one with black hair was saying. "We shouldn't 'ave to listen to stupid people like that, telling us what to do. I mean, we 'ave an _alien_ now. The gov'ment and e'eryone else should be taken orders from _us_!"

"Cor, Cor, look," the other one with a sandwich hissed.

"Quiet, I'm talking," the first – apparently named Cor – snapped. "Why do you always 'ave to interrupt me, Reid?"

Reid had gone very still. "_Look_. I think it's awake."

The one wielding an ice cream went pale. "He's right. Look at the eye-thing, it's all red and glowy."

Cor squinted at Donna for a long moment – she herself was now feeling beyond sick and very unhappy. "'Ey, thing," he called finally. "You speak English?"

She hesitated, weighing her options. If she spoke, then they'd expect answers from her, all sorts of things that she wouldn't be able to answer. If she didn't, there was always the chance that they'd dump her, thinking she was useless. Then again, having followed the conversation so far, it seemed more likely that they'd sell her to a scrap heap or take her to a collector. That was the last thing she needed.

"Maybe it has it's own language," The third boy suggested, holding his ice cream to his face as though he expected it to protect him.

Donna consented, figuring it was her best option – maybe she could talk her way out of this. "I can speak your language quite fine, thanks."

Cor's dark eyes brightened. "Oh, bloody 'ell, we really do 'ave a real alien here! Reid, James, this is brilliant!"

The third boy, James, beamed and he stepped forward. "What's your name? What species are you? Did you come from a different planet? Or maybe your from the government, eh? A prototype or something? _Do_ you have your own language? How old are you? Do you have ages?"

"Can you see in color?" Reid asked, adjusting the thin, spindly pair of glasses on his nose.

Donna was swamped, just as she'd expected to be. She figured she might as well try going on the offensive. "_I'll_ be the one asking the questions here! Any of you mind telling me why it is that I'm in a cellar?"

"Well, we can't just 'ave something like an alien runnin' about! We don't know if you're dangerous or not!" Cor said frankly.

"Oh I'm definitely dangerous," she bristled in reply. "I could take you all down right now if I wanted to! However, I can tell that you are the mere children of this race, and I will spare you if you show intelligence and let me free right now." Of course, in her head she was trying to remember where the "fire" button was. If she could get just one proper show of power in, maybe blow up a crate, they'd scatter, and she'd be able to go free. They only looked around ten or so – it wouldn't be hard to scare them off. If she could only figure out how to shoot.

Reid rubbed the back of his neck. "Er- we don't mean to insult you or anything, but see, we sort of need you."

"Shut up," Cor snapped. "We don't need it's pity!"

Donna's natural curiosity got the better of her. "Tell me. The information could be useful."

Reid paused, swallowed, and then stepped forward. "Well, we're sort of homeless, you see. We- we were in an orphanage. We ran away."

"Why would you do that?" It was impossible to miss the hint of pity in Donna's voice, and she cursed herself for it – that's exactly what she hadn't wanted from the others.

Cor gnawed the side of his cheek. "No good there. We'd rather tough it on our own, thank you very much, than deal with there ruddy hospitality. Not very nice there."

"No good," James mumbled quietly. Donna could see now that he was at least a year younger than the other two.

"Hmm," Despite this revelation, she forced her tone to be firm. "Well, this gives you young beings no right to kidnap me. I demand freedom, or I will have to take offensive action."

Cor glared at her defiantly, adjusting his position as though sizing her up. "Things don't work that way for us. You don't just ask nicely. Now..." he looked to his companions. "We 'ave to go. We'll leave you 'ere. Don't try to get out of those ropes."

_Ropes?_ Donna was too stunned by this to stop them from leaving. She realized that it must be true – she couldn't see very much of herself with the eyestalk, only the stuff around her. Dismay settled into her stomach and she sighed bitterly. Nothing to do but wait.

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane weaved steadily through the heady stalks of wheat, eyes squinted against the sharp sunlight, its owner still rather low in the sky. Stray bits of pollen whirled in the empty air, spiraling around her and eventually disappearing amid the tall plants. The air smelled of corn and dust.<p>

Rhys and Gwen trailed behind her as they headed towards the tall, abandoned warehouse, rotting wooden frame just barely visible against the light yellow horizon. They'd been called there to investigate "strange noises and spectral sightings", and on the off-chance that it might be alien, they'd agreed to come. The area, admittedly, gave Sarah Jane a tingly feeling, one she often experienced whilst alien-hunting back on Bannerman Road, the same tingle that made her press a finger to her lips and keep Rani or Clyde from turning the corner. She felt jumpy and on-edge, the soft flaps of Jack's trenchcoat brushing against her heels in a sort of whispy, ghostly way.

They reached the crest of the wheat field and she saw the rickety, broken wood fence splayed out in front of them, the equally broken house within its barriers, literally sagging in its foundation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gwen shiver. "C'mon," Sarah muttered, and continued forward, the two following her without hesitation.

It seemed to her that Rhys was unfazed. He walked with a calm tilt in his step, almost a swagger, and seemed to smile faintly at the field around him. He looked a bit curious, a bit expectant, and altogether a bit too confident. It helped her foreboding attitude not at all.

They reached the fence and Gwen hesitantly nudged it with one hand. It creaked forward on loose hinges, stopping wide-open at an awkward angle. Their pace slowed as they entered the yard. A thin, faded strip of cobblestone was just barely discernible from the weeds and undergrowth beneath their feet, the once bright grayish stone now faded and dull. Sarah moved forward with a cautious step.

A wind rustled a few spare stalks of wheat and pollen along the ground, and all three pairs of eyes followed them with a vague sense of apprehension. Rhys still appeared to be calm and cool.

The door now stood in front of them. It was very simple, made of a blank, unassuming, light brown wood. No indentations or markings could be seen on it. It was certainly firmly closed, but when Rhys leaned on it and gave it a firm nudge, it fell open. Sarah, narrowing her eyes, stepped inside.

They'd entered a large, dusty sitting room that appeared to be just about the only non-industrial place in the entire warehouse. Sunlight streamed in through gaping holes in the roof and the open windows, shutters long gone, bits of dust visible in the sunbeams. There was nothing but a dirty table in the middle of the room.

Gwen finally seemed to find her voice. "Sort of spooky here."

"We're probably just paranoid," Sarah Jane muttered shortly.

Rhys shrugged, still unaffected, and walked forward, leaning on the table to face the two of them. "So what, we camp out here, set up some equipment, and see if anything happens?"

"That's the general plan," Gwen said as she stepped forward herself, pulling her backpack from her shoulder and beginning to lay equipment on the table. Sarah went over to help, but stopped when she looked over at Rhys. In his hands was the alien object that himself and Gwen had deduced was a communicator of some sort, or held a transmission. He rotated it between his fingers, seeming deep in thought.

"Rhys?" she asked sharply, finding Jack's voice to make it ever-more sharper. "Why did you bring that?"

He seemed unperturbed, or otherwise disinterested in Sarah Jane's curiosity. "Thought we might need it. Just seemed like sort of the right idea to take it along. That reminds me, though, did you bring that crystal-thing that I found?"

She was seriously alarmed. "Why would I do that? Anyways, it's not our business anymore, remember? I'm having Martha pick it up."

"Why, though? I could deal with it just as well as her."

She frowned. Rhys's sudden new attitude left her sincerely worried, but before she could reply, Gwen called, "Hey you two, remember how we had an actual reason for being here? Anyone mind helping me?"

Rhys sighed and rolled his eyes at Sarah, but nevertheless stood, placing the rock-like communicator on the edge of the table and went around the side of it to kneel behind Gwen. "What can I do then, babe?"

Sarah Jane swallowed, not moving to help them. Her eyes lingered on the communicator, stomach fluttering nervously as she worried over Rhys. Could this be a mind-control type of thing? What else might cause him to be so obsessed over it? And again, what about the crystal? This wasn't like him to be so engrossed and focused on one thing. Even though she didn't know him well, she knew him enough to know that was true.

She took a deep breath and squatted on the other side of Gwen's backpack, facing them. They were plugging in the connections to a wireless camera feed, which they planned to hook up to the ceiling in the industrial area of the building. "Jack?" Gwen said, almost warily. "You want to go scope the place out?"

Sarah shook her head. She needed to stay focused. "Right, I know that." In the corner of the room, parallel to where they'd come in, was an open wooden door that led into a musty, dirt-filled, unlit hallway. On the other side of the entry room was another open door, but she headed into the hallway. She moved down it hesitantly to find that it led to another wide-open threshold. The room was pitch black, but as she run her hand along the dusty, cold stone wall, she found a light switch and flicked it up.

She was in a heavy industrial area that, by the dust-coated machinery within, she assumed was for sifting grain. Three massive, dusty hoppers were lined up nearest to her, and the ceiling wasn't covered, showing thick cords of wires and massive steel tubes. Further along, she could see hulking vehicles used to carry grain and tall steel ladders, leading up to higher levels. "It's a mill," Sarah said quietly to herself, looking around in surprise.

And so it was. From the report, she'd learned that the mill had been abandoned at least fifty years ago, and most people in the surrounding area had forgotten what it was used for. The wheat field, however, was often visited, cared for, and harvested by nearby farmers. They were the ones who had seen shadowy shapes moving across the side of the warehouse, or heard what sounding like gears crunching from within the building. No one had known it was a mill, though – now it made sense.

She rubbed her arms and let out a long breath. The room was dank and chilly, and she could easily imagine most of the place being rotted out from years of neglect and disuse. Shaking her head, she began to cross the room, figuring she should head up the stairs and see what else was here.

From the main room, she heard Gwen cry out.

Sarah Jane gasped and turned, running back, and yelled herself as she saw that the communicator had opened in the middle and a holographic image had erupted from it of a thin, elongated alien face. It had coal black eyes, glittering with intelligence, and tall ears at the top of its head. Its skin was pale white, and it spoke in a high, measured voice.

"Message begins:," it said. "The Intergalactic Association has decreed that no satellites or spaceships of any kind allowed in orbit around the planet ZZ:M:Alpha Minor. This is a level 5 planet that is well protected and does not seek war. Thank you. This communicator will self-destruct in ten seconds. Message ends. Ten…"

Sarah looked up at the other two. "Run!"

"Nine…"

Rhys grabbed Gwen's had, the color drained from his face, and headed through the door that Sarah hadn't gone through. They bolted around the corner and she quickly lost sight of them.

"Six…"

She turned and bolted back towards the room with the hoppers. The alien's voice carried fantastically well, and it followed her as she exited the hall and dived towards the hoppers.

"Four…"

Time seemed to slow as Sarah Jane cowered behind one of the hulking steel gray hoppers. All she could think was that the hallway had been wood, and would easily be burned, and she was in a concrete room that would contain the heat. All she could think was that she had no chance of surviving.

"Two…"

She thought of the crystal back at base; of Rhys and Gwen around the corner. She hoped they would make it. She thought of the strange occurrences people had been seeing here and wondered if the mystery would ever be solved. She thought of the real Jack and felt indescribably scared.

"…One. Thank you for your compliance."

The mill was swallowed in flame.

* * *

><p>:).<p> 


	16. Chapter 16 Crash, Crash, Crash

JESUS. What, has it been like, 3 weeks? What the hell happened to me?

I died.

No, I didn't. Finals happened, and then Frostval and Christmas, and then all sorts of things, and then I was just procrastinating, so...

It was kind of creepy, because I got an e-mail from Hot Topic that said for the subject, "Hey procrastinator - time's almost up!"

Well anyways, here's your chapter. Hope you like it.

OHWAITBYTHEWAY

If any of you happen to come across a link to the Christmas episode on the 25th, I'd love it if you would message me with it. I need that thing, man.

* * *

><p>"Missing," Rory sighed, pressing his hands together and narrowing his eyes, hoping he was acting like the Doctor. "Martha, are you sure? It's not every day you see a Dalek go missing."<p>

"You don't need to do that in front of me," she muttered, referring to his characterization.

"I know, but I need the practice," he grumbled in reply. "It's exactly the same reason that you're even talking to me right now. You know you'd get much better help from him."

They were standing out in front of the TARDIS, Martha glaring down at the spot where Donna had fallen asleep after her heated argument with the Doctor, a good three hours before the Doctor and Rory had been switched. Where she'd once been was now an empty patch of grass, devoid of anything except a few scuff marks. She sighed, somewhat guiltily. "Sorry Rory, I just-"

"Hello," a voice said. They turned and saw Rose standing by the corner of the cement wall hiding the TARDIS, looking a bit disheveled but otherwise fine. "I'm back."

Rory shifted uncomfortably and instantly tried to hide it. In an attempt to help, Martha said, "You've been out all night, _Rose_."

She smiled darkly in reply. "Oh, very busy Martha, searching for the crystal and all. I haven't had much luck, unfortunately. What about you?"

Rory made a face and shrugged slightly. "Not much luck here, I'm afr-"

"Oh actually, Doctor," Martha cut in uncomfortably. "I've been on the phone with, er, Jack, and he's found a shard. I was going to go pick it up later."

"Ah, that's brilliant Martha, get right on it!" he said brightly, and then froze as he realized his own mistake.

"Er..." she swallowed. "Do you mean you want me to go _now_...?"

"Well, not as such, I mean, we do have Rose here, it would be rather rude to just..." he gestured frantically.

Rose raised a slow eyebrow, leaning against the cement wall with a soft thud. "Oh, I don't mind Martha. The crystal is much more important."

"Of course." She sighed, gave Rose a pointed look, then Rory much the same thing, before brushing past them to go into Cardiff.

"Ah, Rose, yes," Rory choked out. "No trouble during your search, I hope?"

She smiled and walked over. Something about her seemed wrong to him, but he didn't say anything more. "Oh no, nothing too major. Just a lot of hard work. How is everyone?"

"Er, fine I suppose... Except that Donna's disappeared..."

The Doctor cut into his thoughts sharply. _What's going on? Where's Donna off to?_

Rory swallowed, glad that he'd managed to not yelp in surprise. Having the Doctor's voice in his head had been scaring him badly. It seemed obtrusive and unnecessary, exactly the sort of thing he tried his hardest to avoid having to deal with while around him. _She's disappeared_, he thought._ We don't know where._

"Donna? Gone?" Rose frowned, looking sincerely concerned. "That's terrible. Is there anything I can do?"

"Oh, well, I don't know, y-"

She cut in immediately: "Maybe I should go look for her. Yes, wouldn't that be helpful if I looked for her? Can I do that for you Doctor?"

_Oh, let her go, I'm too busy to care,_ the Doctor told him. "Yes sure, Rose, just don't do anything foolish," he said accordingly.

"Of course not," she replied, giving him a wave before slipping around the corner.

_Doctor, what are we going to do_? Rory asked him almost immediately, head spinning. He was tired and strained, stretched thin with the stress of pretending to be the Doctor, and constantly interrupted by the constant, endless Timelord heartbeat. It was driving him mad.

_I don't know Rory_, Came the reply. _I'm glad that Martha's off to get another piece, though. I think I'm close to finding a way to reverse this, but I can't do anything until I have that in my hands._

Feeling as though the distraction might help him, he asked, _How do you think you can reverse it?_

_It's biological structure is a funny one, _the Doctor said. _When it was split, its consciousness was split as well, to the effect that three separate pieces are essentially 'stupider' than a whole one. I think I can reverse it if I can reach and shut down the 'brain' that keeps it active. However, that will only reverse the transformations that that specific crystal caused. I also don't know if it might have split a second time, and if it has, then we run the risk of having several different crystals to find and deal with._

_What about those two people who started all of this?_ Rory countered. _Isn't their crystal __technically all of them?_

He got the mental impression of a sigh in return. _Yes, I've considered that. I don't really know what will happen, but it's a risk that I'll have to deal with._

_At least you've made progress_. He replied bluntly.

He didn't get an answer, but Rory felt that his point had been made, and he turned back to the TARDIS in a sulky sort of way. He knew the Doctor was inside, as well as River and-

"Doctor!" Amy said as she stepped outside. "I was wondering if there was any way that I could help."

Rory found himself temporarily stunned. This was his _wife_ after all. He'd like to just come out and tell her what had happened, but he knew he couldn't. All hell would break loose, and besides, the crystal fed off of chaos. Plenty of that would take place if he let his newfound secret go. "Ah, er, Amy... I'm not sure if there _is_ anything here for you to do."

She looked dismayed. "Really? I couldn't go look for a piece of crystal, maybe? Fix something? Anything?"

"'Fraid not," he said stiffly.

She sighed, very much crestfallen. "Alright. I'll be inside."

"Of course, yes. Talk to you later, Amy." He watched her go, eyebrows creasing with concern. He didn't like lying, let alone to his wife, and he felt he might go utterly mad having to deal with the Doctor on such a... _personal_ level. If he really did know how to reverse it, Rory hoped he'd put that plan into action. Quickly.

* * *

><p>It was a wonder in of itself that no one came running.<p>

The explosion had been fierce and loud, but well-contained, tearing into only the first half mile of crops closest to the mill. The mill itself, however, was utterly destroyed. Huge chunks of cinderblock, too strong to burn, lay in heaps and towering clumps in what had once been the perimeter of the building. Long pieces of wood sat alone on the blackened cement floor, smoldering. Thick clouds of black smoke rose from the area in huge plumes, filling the sky with darkness. The entire scene looked like an ancient ruin, set ablaze. Besides the sounds of leftover fires crackling, all was silent. A sharp intake of breath, close to a scream, broke the deadly calm.

Sarah Jane spent several seconds, paralyzed on the floor, trying to remember how to breathe. Finally a whoosh of air escaped her lungs, in out, in out. Her pupils were dilated to their furthest extent and she struggled to adjust them as she lay there, watching the ashes settle on the cement floor, struggling to catch her breath.

Her ribs felt like a hole had been punched through them, and every intake of air hurt. Her head spun madly like a carousel, even though she was trying her best to not move. After about a minute, it occurred to her that the main reason breathing hurt so badly, despite her aching ribs, was because of the dust and ash in the air. She coughed heavily and tried to sit up, but quickly hit the ground again as her insides did a 360.

She tried to look around, vision blurring in and out of focus as she strained to see what was left of the room. The hopper she'd been hiding behind was knocked over and blackened beside her, the side that had been facing the explosion completely burned away. Sarah Jane realized how lucky she was that it hadn't crushed her. The rest of the room had been blasted down to almost nothing but the blackened and peeling cement floor and a few short, crumbled walls. Cinderblocks lay around her like hulking bodies.

Seeing that it might be worth it to try again, she very slowly and carefully lifted herself onto her knees, head reeling. Her body swayed from side to side like a snake. She looked down and saw that the long, flowing hem of Jack's trench coat was tattered and ripped, smoldering slightly, with a thin wisp of gray smoke rising from it.

This inspired her to check the rest of herself. Besides her aching ribs and head, and a few other charred holes in her clothing, along with a great big tear down the left side of her shirt, she appeared to be completely fine. But Sarah Jane was worried by this, not pleased. She knew she couldn't have survived that explosion, not from where she'd been. It wasn't possible.

So what exactly had happened?

She tried to think straight – she could wonder about her survival later. What did she need to do? Gwen and Rhys. Where were they? Had they made it out? She had to get up. She had to go find out.

Working the feeling into her muscles, she ran her hands along the blackened floor and unsteadily hoisted herself to her feet. She gathered her strength, took three steps forward, and tripped over her own feet, nearly falling to the ground and only just managed to hold herself up on her knees.

"Jack!" she heard a voice call urgently, and then the sound of footsteps. Gwen.

Gwen turned the corner, gripping the remains of a wall, and locked her eyes on Sarah Jane. "Jack! Are you alright?"

She felt tired, sick, and completely unprepared for the arduous task of being someone else, but nevertheless she murmured, "Yes, I'm fine. Where's Rhys?"

"Right here," he said breathlessly as he came around the corner as well.

Gwen came forward and wrapped her arms around Sarah, whispering urgently in her ear, "Did you...?"

Did I what? She thought, but the answer appeared on its own, and her spirits sank. Did she die, was the question. Jack's mysterious ability to cheat death, again and again. Sarah Jane hadn't lived. The explosion had killed her. But as long as she was Jack, death wasn't possible.

Yes, it was coming to her now, the blackness. She shivered.

"Jack?" Gwen repeated.

"Yes, I think so," she said shortly, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

"What happen-" Rhys began, but a plume of fury had been born in Sarah and she released it on him.

"I think that would be a better question to ask you," she snapped, standing up. "Why the hell did you bring that thing?"

"I...I..." he stammered, looking down. "I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I saw it and I thought..."

It's the crystal, Sarah realized. The crystal was getting into his consciousness and messing with his thoughts. It was poisoning him without him having ever touched it. It was getting stronger.

"Just forget it," she snapped, giving him a fierce look, even though she wanted to back down. She had to act like Jack, no matter what.

"What exactly happened, Jack?" Gwen ventured. "There was that transmission before it..."

Sarah swallowed. She didn't want to do this, to deal with this. Now that she knew what had happened to her, she wasn't sure she wanted to do anything. But she had to be strong, for Gwen and Rhys. She tried to imagine them as Clyde and Rani. If she backed down, if she let her fear show, then they would too. She had to be strong for them.

"They're an old alien race," she said flatly. "Called the Ishnu. I think they're mostly extinct by now. They lived on a planet abundant with resources, and were constantly being invaded and threatened because of it. Their warfare was tactical and strategic. They would hide messages such as that one in the form of rocks or other objects that the invading species would collect as samples, only to find that it was actually a bomb. I've no idea how that thing ended up here, but," she sighed, feeling drained. "It certainly had a long journey. It must have been timed, and activated at that point simply by chance."

"Awful luck," Gwen whispered hoarsely.

"But what about you two?" Sarah asked, shaking her head.

"We got behind a cement door," she said, glancing at Rhys. "It protected us from most of the blow, but the room still went down around us. We're okay though."

Now that she was looking for it, she could see the damage clearly on their bodies. Most of the right half of Rhys's face was bruised purple, and Gwen was favoring her right leg. They both had thin lines of red blood in various places on their skin and clothes.

"Let's get out of here," she said, still swaying slightly. "Back to base."

"What about the weird sightings here?" Rhys asked.

She grimaced. "Anything alien that was here was most likely destroyed. And if it wasn't alien..." her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe in ghosts."

Sarah Jane never had. And after what had happened today, her beliefs were only confirmed.

* * *

><p>Oh dear god. There you go, there's your words. Well, if I don't manage to get anything up tomorrow, or the day after, then Happy Frostval and Christmas and MidWinter Feast and all that.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17 Beyond Doubting

Well wasn't that just an obnoxiously long amount of time? Man...

Expect the next chapter soon, however. I'm excited about it. And keep leaving reviews!

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><p>"No," Rani said. "No, please, <em>please<em>, no."

Clyde lowered his pair of binoculars, grimacing darkly. He rubbed each of his hands in turn with the other. Then he rubbed his neck, knocked his shoes together, and finally turned to Rani. "I know. I know, but there's no mistaking it."

Through two pairs of binoculars, they had both just viewed Sarah Jane, with a shifty expression, slip into her bedroom. Through the thin crack of door, they'd seen an angry, red-haired woman tied to a barstool that had fallen onto the floor, glaring at him with pure hatred.

"What _happened_ to her?" Rani asked. Clyde could hear the strain, the dismay, the fury in her voice, and it made him indescribably angry. He hated it when she was like this. He wanted nothing more than to take what caused her to use that tone, to feel that pain, and strangle it. He shifted in the dirt on the hill where they were laying on their stomachs.

"I don't know," he said. "I wish I did. Something could have possessed her. It's happened before."

"Don't remind me," she winced. "It could be blackmail, too. Or mind control, or... or... something we've never heard of."

He swallowed. He didn't want to say it, but he had to. He always did. He was always the one to say it, every single time they expected something wrong with Sarah Jane. Every time the two of them thought something was wrong with Rani. Every time he confronted either of them with a worry about Mr. Smith, or K-9, or Sky, or once – only once, a long time ago – Luke.

"What if she's doing it on purpose?"

Rani pressed her knuckles together, looking as though she was going to crack them, then seemed to change her mind and pressed her hands to her temples. Clyde knew her answer, it was always the same, but he always asked it, and she always answered the same way. There was a small, unspoken agreement between them about how disappointingly often they suspected one another of anything bad. One of the first lessons Sarah Jane had taught them both was to always consider every single possibility, no matter how unlikely – even the ones that you hate, even the ones that could break your heart.

"She'd never do that," she said softly.

He nodded in a sort of subdued way, then murmured, "She's got a woman tied up in her house."

Rani smiled weakly, then sighed. "The things we get ourselves into."

"Yes. I know."

"So what are we going to do?"

He considered it for a moment, frowning deeply, then said, "I've got an idea."

* * *

><p>James jumped back from where he'd been squatting, just barely landing upright on his toes, battered sneakers scraping against the dusty floor. He flexed his feet, rocking back and forth on his ankles and gripped his shoulders, supressing a shiver. The cold red orb that made up the alien's eye had lit up, just as he'd been staring at it. It scared him to death, and no matter how brave Cor or Ried acted, he knew it scared them too.<p>

He wrapped his arms around his knees, watching as the creature's eyestalk adjusted and the red eye focused on him in a metallic, impersonal way. Each move it made was disconnected and snappy, with

machine-like precision that was both terrifying and alarming. It left him unnerved and panicky. He couldn't shake the image of this alien moving steadily down a battlefield, showing no emotion, shooting down everything in its way. It made his skin tingle with fear.

"Human boy," it said after a pause, voice grating in his ears. "…James."

Before he could stop himself, he said, "You're all tied up, y'know. You can't hurt me."

The eyestalk moved in an odd, downward-facing circle, as though trying to see if he was right, but James realized that the way it was built denied it the ability to look down at itself. He could see it, though. Cor had tied thick tan ropes around its middle several times, and secured it to a wooden support beam directly behind it at the back of the room.

The alien looked at him and said in an almost sad, irritable way, "I'm aware."

"What are you?" he asked shakily.

It stared at him for a long time. The gaze it held left his muscles tense and filled him with the need to bolt. "I am alien," it said finally. "And I've seen things that you would not understand, boy. I've been to places… so unbelievable… I've done things that could break your heart – with both pain and love. You don't understand. Really, really, none of you three do. And I'm in trouble. And it doesn't involve you, and it shouldn't. You need to let me go."

"No, I can't. I can't even touch you. Cor said so, and I listen to him," he replied firmly.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're right, cause you're stuck there. You can't hurt me. You're not doing anything."

The stalk lowered. It seemed strangely ashamed of itself, despite the fact that it was expressionless, and refused to meet his gaze. "I will not hurt you. That doesn't mean I can't. But I don't hurt children. I won't."

"Why not? You're a-" It was out before he could stop it "-monster."

The basement fell silent. As James lowered his head guiltily, he thought of Cor and Ried upstairs, in the one bedroom of this abandoned house that was still in tact. They wouldn't tell him what they were doing – Cor just called it planning. "Go out there and keep an eye on it," he told James.

"Right, cause I'm the youngest! Just leave _me_ with it!" He'd replied.

"It's not going to hurt you," Ried said softly. "It's just a different species."

"It will hurt me! That arm-thing it has, whatever it is… it looks like a gun, or something!"

"Baby," Cor snapped. "Do as I tell you, or will 'ave to leave you on the street in the middle of the night."

So now here he was, insulting an alien. He didn't care what it said – now it would certainly kill him.

"Why did all of you run away?" it said after a long moment. "From the orphanage."

James was quietly stunned, but he knew his best hope was to answer its questions, not push his luck, and not say anything that would make it angry. "It was Cor's idea," he mumbled. "We was all sort of mates there. Well, Ried knows Cor better, 'cause I'm the youngest, and they never tell me anything. But Cor got this idea that they was gonna break out, so they figured I might as well come with.

"The people there, who ran the place, they were terrible. They was mean, and strict, and they didn't care if you was sick, or hurt, or crying or not. It… it was like a jail there."

"So you left," the alien said. "Did you want to, or were you just following them?"

"No, I wanted to," he shook his head. "That place was awful. Living on the street isn't very fun, but it's better than that."

Its eyestalk did the equivalent of nodding. The movement was so human and natural that it left James secretly stunned. "What happened next? How did you escape?"

He sat back with his legs in front of him, hugging them again. "It wasn't very hard. I was scared at first, but it turned out to be for nothing. Cor had an upstairs room, with a window looking out onto the alley, so when night came and they locked all the doors, we hid under his bed until we was sure everyone else was asleep. Then we all jumped out the window into the dumpsters below and ran off. I don't know if they've been looking for us or not. I really hope they don't find us."

"And then… you found me?"

He shook his head quickly. "We found you the next night." Just saying that sentence sent a shiver through him. Was he really talking to an _alien?_ This seemed much too complicated to be a trick of Cor's. Then again, if he'd gotten Ried in on it…

"And what are you all going to do? Where will you go?"

No, if this was a trick of his, he'd never ask a question like that. He'd have no reason to. "I don't know. Cor usually decides that. He's smarter, y'know. Older."

"Don't say that!" It reprimanded sharply, and James heard a terrifying rush of anger in its scratchy, dead voice. "You sound pretty bloody intelligent to me! The more I listen to you, the less I like this Cor boy. He sounds like a controlling little bully in my opinion!"

"S-Sorry," he stammered, scrabbling backwards in fear and quickly getting to his feet. Yes, the alien certainly had a point – but he didn't want it to _kill_ Cor.

"I'm just going to-to check on them," he said, and immediately regretted it. Why should the alien know what he's doing?

"Wait!" it called, but it was too late. He'd already ran off.


	18. Chapter 18 Mind and Spirit

I don't even understand how this chapter succeeded in getting so long. I was shooting for 3,000 words, but I get THIS instead? I mean just...

* * *

><p>Rory watched the other side of the wall in the room where he was sleeping, unable to see it in the dark, but aware of its presence. That night, Martha had returned from Torchwood with another crystal shard. The Doctor, however, was unable to begin his attempt of switching them back until he let the TARDIS run a few more scans on it, so he told Rory he'd have to wait another night. The disappointment was fantastic. He was numbly tired, the strain of attempting to be the Doctor driving him nuts, yet he was unable to sleep. He kept being prodded awake by a malevolent shadow in the back of his mind, a soft, faint little paw print of something Rory didn't recognize. It was keeping him up.<p>

Rory was never a big fan of aliens. In fact, during his time with the Doctor, he'd had many days spent grudgingly trailing Amy and cursing the lifeforms around him for leaving him stuck in this situation. The way he saw it, all they had done was bring trouble to the three of them. Always having to be saved, or always trying to kill them, or always in some sort of downfall that the Doctor was convinced it was his job to fix. He'd never understood why Amy loved it so much. He'd only come along, in all honesty, to make sure she stayed safe, and was secretly very pleased when the Doctor finally kicked them out of his time machine. (Although Amy's pain and silence for the next week was insufferable. He'd never seen her in such a state, and never wanted to again.)

And now, there was some sort of unfamiliar thing in his head, most undoubtedly alien, taking refuge inside his mind. He sat there, glaring furiously at the wall, and wondered what he should do. (He also wondered, not for the first time, and certainly not the last, why he ever let himself get into these god forsaken situations, but that's a different story.) He knew from experience that sleep was a word nonexistent in the Doctor's vocabulary, and it wouldn't take too much effort to hunt him down and explain the problem, but Rory was loathe to approach the Timelord. He'd been harboring a grudge towards him, ever since they first met and he seemingly stole Amy away, and by now, after all the hell and danger they'd been through, it was increasing into a full-blown hatred – for lack of a better word. Rory was incapable of true hatred towards the Doctor. No matter how hard he tried, there was something mystifying and powerful about him. He could almost even understand why Amy was so entranced.

No matter, he couldn't bring himself to get up and go to the Doctor. After all, he _was_ him now. He could certainly be capable of dealing with one little alien thing in his head. Rory was smart, he was clever. He could do it.

Every time he tried to focus on it harder, it seemed to disappear, as though it had never even been real. His head spun as he struggled to zoom in on it, to pin down its strange existence and hold it there. It was near impossible. After what felt like hours, he gave it up in exasperation and went back to staring at the wall. Almost immediately it rematerialized – and disappeared before he could catch it.

Irritated, but now determined, Rory closed his eyes and forced his mind to relax. Sure enough, the presence returned. He didn't focus on it, instead just observing it, as though passively watching it pass by his vision. He tried to think of something else.

The presence, heavy and almost malleable, like a weight on his mind, seemed to settle there the longer he ignored it. It was like a little thought, or an invisible memory, but heavier and more demanding, sitting on the edge of his head. He waited.

It seemed to be several minutes that he sat there, resting but entirely unable to sleep, until he figured this thing, whatever it was, wasn't going to do anything. He would have to make the first move.

He slowed his breathing and calmed himself as much as he could – and then struck. This time, he felt success. He gripped the presence with his own mind, grappled with it, wrapped himself around it and held it down. He took control of it, only to immediately be taken over himself.

Rory then proceeded to feel the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his life.

* * *

><p>If there was one thing Rose didn't doubt, it was that it had been a very, very long day.<p>

About an hour before everyone had fallen asleep on the TARDIS, River had returned after attempting, as she put it, "Looking out for Donna in hopes of being helpful." Although she didn't fully want to think about it, or even admit it to herself, Rose was feeling vaguely disgusted by River. Her blatant disregard to the nasty situation she had placed her in was downright cruel. The first time she'd met River – it felt like ages ago – she'd found her friendly and helpful, if a bit forward. Now she was just... blunt.

It was a challenge, however, for Rose to feel truly angry. Once, when she'd first been traveling with the Doctor, ages ago, she was quick to snap and defensive around him, easily getting jealous and protective. Although even now it was hard to admit to herself, her first meeting with Sarah Jane had began the process of changing that. She was still wary of River, no doubt there, but there was a strange feeling of respect intermingled with it. Anyone with the guts, or the bravery to be here with the Doctor today, or even often mentioned by him, was someone she had to have respect for, no matter how much.

She burrowed further down into the soft blankets of her bed on the TARDIS, sighing deeply. She couldn't get to sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she kept feeling a pressure in the back of her head, a tension that would flutter by her mind, fleeting, but there. She shifted uncomfortably, unable to shake it, but unable to fully locate it either. She'd focus, and it would seem to have left, but the moment her thoughts turned elsewhere it would return. Unless it would stop escaping her, so fast and fleeting, she'd never be able to figure out what it was.

Rose certainly got the impression that it was alien, if nothing else. It left that certain stench, that certain pawprint – a thing that by now she was used to – which simply screamed otherworldly. She sat there and wondered what to do about it.

It's going to take focus, she thought.

Settling down even further under the covers, Rose plunged her own consciousness into itself, trying to narrow down through the contents of her own mind. It passed by her several times in flashes, like a car moving in the opposite direction, but when she went to pin it down it was already gone. Like a word or a memory, on the tip of your tongue, but incapable of being pulled out of your thoughts.

After what seemed like ages, she stopped her frenzied search and tried to calm down. The only way she could ever succeed was by tricking it, pulling it forward... and then springing the trap. Her breathing slowed, and she relaxed, after awhile even entering the dull space between being awake and asleep, lulled quietly into calm. She never fully went unconscious, however. Her goal was clear in her head, and she wasn't about to give up.

Gradually, she became aware of the presence. It sat there in her mind almost tauntingly, mocking her inability to catch it. It seemed to be falling into a sense of false security. Finally, Rose's patience was rewarded – she mentally lunged and trapped the presence beneath her.

It fought, to say the least. It wiggled and squirmed, struggling to get free, straining with all of its might, but she had it trapped. She was quick to learn, however, that the real trap was on her. The presence seemed to turn on her, and she was sucked down by it, caged within it, whisked away from her own safety and reality.

And filled with such pain as never before.

Her head was suddenly alive and searing with something close to fire but more ungodly and unreal. Her mind flared with pain, her temples felt as though they would burst with the sudden heat, sudden ache, sudden throb that filled it more than thoughts or memories ever could. She was incapable of thinking straight. Her throat tensed and then tightened, burning hotter than any flame, and she gasped, unable to breathe, or perhaps unable to remember how. Her body flared with sudden heat: she felt as though she were boiling. The sudden pain made the life drain from her skin, leaving it pale and flushed. Her fingers clenched and she twisted in the bed, racked with uncontrollable spasms. She let out a strangled gasp, jerking back, unable to properly think, unable to react. She couldn't remember what she was supposed to do if she wanted to vocalize, or how one went about breathing. Things were moving to quickly for her to focus. Sweat poured from her forehead. Blood pulsed in her veins, beating against her temples alongside her headache, despite the fact that she was dimly aware of her slowing heartbeat. Her eyeballs rolled and rotated in their sockets, and she was unable to close them. In fact, they were wider than humanly possible, yet seemed to see nothing. Her lips too, gaped open, as though halfway through a scream, but no sound came out. No breath, either. Her body grew still.

Although at the forefront of her thoughts, gradually Rose began to feel the pain fade away – or, as it was, become more distant, as though she were moving away from it. Soon the throb left her temples, and she gradually became aware of her own surroundings. She hadn't a clue where she was, and she was also certain that she had left her own body. Or more specifically, _River's_ body. Her consciousness floated alone, in an alien place that – she suddenly realized – was within, or perhaps _was_, the presence that had been permeating her mind not too long ago. She took the mental version of a deep breath.

The place seemed quiet, and in fact empty, but the longer she stayed there, unmoving, she became aware of little snippets of thought, small intricacies of life and death, of reality and unreality, of existence and nonexistence, all with their own constant, familiar imprint, their own name, their own title. A powerful, endless maze of everything the mind could ever know, of hopes and dreams, of dark secrets, all simply coming to the surface and spreading out like a map in front of Rose. All with their own title, their own name.

River.

She was in River Song's mind.

Their was no doubting it. Each thought or memory that flicked by Rose came from the head of Melody, from her eyes, from her point of view. It was plain and blunt in front of her. But _how_? How could it be possible for her to be within another's mind?

In a sharp moment of clarity, Rose remembered the Doctor talking about the mental link created between two of the same gender after touching the crystal. How she and River had flippantly used it between each other. How it had left the thoughts of the two open to the other. How a little, blunt presence had danced about her mind, indistinct yet annoying, just as annoying as all of the sudden, mental thoughts River would throw at her. She had a mental link with River.

Had she somehow broken that barrier?

* * *

><p>Had he somehow broken that barrier?<p>

If his body was with him, Rory probably would have been tensed beyond imagination, unable to move, stunned and terrified and worried by the massive chamber that was the Doctor's mind which lay in front of him. It was so complicated, so huge, so mind-bogglingly massive. The mind of a Timelord.

Little snippets of memory seemed to float by him lazily, moving without care, but still quick enough for him to not get a truly good view. Reminiscent throbs of the pain he'd just experienced prodded his memory, and something told him that his body was still experiencing it. He certainly didn't want to find out.

But now of course the real question presented itself to him: What did he do? A thing unlike any other in the universe lay right before him, waiting to be forged, utterly untouched, simply begging him to look closer. And yet... and yet it was a mind, a personal thing, belonging to someone with more secrets than humanly possible. It wasn't his right to look. It wasn't his place.

But...

But there it was. Nothing to stop him.

* * *

><p>Rose knew she had to. It was wrong, yes, and terrible, and invading, and absolutely awful of her, but she had to. No one could be put in this situation, to be placed in such a powerful place, and walk away from it. She simply wasn't capable.<p>

So she went forward.

Rose moved a bit to quickly, skimming past the surface, and almost ran into the edge of River's consciousness. It was like a ball, a great mass of thought and mind and life, sitting there in the center of everything, and – at the moment – dormant. River was asleep.

She observed the huge, unreal thing with nonexistent eyes and it gave her a real feeling of fear. What she was doing shouldn't be possible. At the moment she was an anomaly, a whisper, a mind without a body, a broken thing... a _spirit_, floating at the edge of reality, with nothing to hold her in place. What if there was no way back?

Well, she told herself, if there wasn't, then she didn't have much choice, did she? Rose skirted the edge of River's consciousness on the off-chance that she could wake her and found she was somersaulting into the archeologist's memories.

The mind was set up in an almost structured way, with the thoughts she had encountered first being the most easy or comfortable for the owner to remember. The deeper she went, the more painful or hard-to-recall the memories became. Thoughts – mainly only current ones – were vaguely separated from the memories, and the same went for things like ideas, or places, or the person's general knowledge. The longer Rose floated there, gathering what little bearings she could muster, the better understanding she had of this organization.

After a moment during which she gathered her courage, Rose plunged into River's memories. She tried her best to not go too far, for the sake of respect, but her curiosity allowed her to go fairly deep. After a while she chose to select a memory on random and... there was no word for it. It was like she "viewed" the memory, but not as such. It just seemed to play itself to her.

Rose was startled at first, because she foolishly hadn't been expecting the memory to be in first person. It quickly made sense to her, though, that she was watching the moment from River's point of view, and seeing everything from River's eyes. At the moment, all she could see however was her lap. She became aware though, that River was tied to a chair, looking down. She was dressed in a standard white shirt and black pants, so clean and untouched that it gave Rose the idea she'd been forced to wear them, and recently. She would have tried to focus more on the details, if a sound hadn't cut clearly into her mind.

It was a harp, or perhaps a lyre, but either way it played a short, soft, gentle, and completely menacing tune that warbled in the air for several seconds after having finished. When the sound faded out entirely, River raised her head.

Rose saw that she was in a dimly lit room with dark red furnishings and draperies covering the windows, and a coffee table separating River from the harp's owner, who was facing the other way. The curtains were strategically set up so no natural light came in from outside, and the only door in the room was as far from River as possible on the right, and half-hidden by a tall mahogany wardrobe.

As though on some sort of a cue, the woman who'd been playing the harp turned a few seconds after River looked up. She reminded Rose of the awful schoolteacher she'd had in forth grade, who had always stared at her with beady eyes hidden behind glasses thin enough to operate as daggers, and a taut expression caused by her small red lips. This woman had a pinched nose, tiny, conservative, dark red lips, and tightly curled dark brown hair in a bun. Her thin glasses looked as though they might double as daggers, and her eyes were small and beady. She wore a plain black business jacket and skirt.

"River Song," her voice had a strange purr on the end of it. "How might you be today?"

"Not very well, all things considered," Rose heard her reply. Her tone was sharp and irritable.

"Now, that's no way to talk to me," Madame Kovarian replied. "My associates would rather you were placed in a dungeon," she leaned forward darkly "But I have more humanity than that."

River's thoughts had faintly trickled into her mind and she'd picked up the name "Kovarian." Rose mentally swallowed as River said, "I'm not doing it. You can try as hard as you want to, but I'm not getting in that suit, I'm not going to Lake Silencio, and I'm not going to kill him."

Kovarian's placid expression didn't change. She brought one hand to her face and lightly grazed it along the side of her cheekbone, looking thoughtful. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. As you might have observed, you are in fact tied to a chair. And although the _Doctor_ might have pulled you out of my web whilst you were only a teen, that was more than enough time to leave you under my spell. This trap was much more complicated than even he could have imagined. When the time comes and you rise from the lake to meet him, you'll find yourself unable to resist pulling the trigger."

Her voice had turned as thick and slimy as wet sugar. Rose picked up pounding waves of distaste from River and – smaller, but very distinct – fear. "You certainly seem sure of yourself. I'm not. The highest power that I worry about, or need to be aware of, is him. And the _only_ one who beats _me_, is him. You are nothing but a worthless fake and will forever live in his shadow."

Brave words, Rose thought, for someone in that situation. She might have expected this Kovarian woman to retaliate, but at the same time she had noticed the way she treated River and found it odd. As though to increase her convictions in her ideas, Madame Kovarian smiled.

"Please River, let's not fight. I never expected you to agree with my ideas, although it is a shame. When I started this... _process_, I was hoping this chosen child, this _Melody_, and I, could be friends. I can see that won't happen now, but... Well River, I was happy to know you, and in the future I believe you will understand. This man, this Doctor..." she sat back in her chair, folding one leg over the other. "He has spoken to you of monsters, hasn't he?

"That's what he says, is it not? That he defeats the monsters, destroys the evil, liberates the planets? Well let me tell you something now, River, for perhaps it will take away some confusion later: _He_ is the monster. The only one. The Doctor is a beast, a destroyer and, more than that, an anomaly. He is the last of his kind. He is out of date. He no longer has a purpose in this universe, and it is time he left it, to make it a better place. My only goal – an innocent, good one – is to help him realize this."

"You don't understand what this man has done since the destruction of Gallifrey," River replied immediately, tone like needles. "He has changed everything, for the better. He has helped colonies rise back into power, he's saved thousands of lives."

"And he goes where he knows he shouldn't be," Kovarian snapped, eyes narrowing. She was quiet for a long moment before standing. "Well, River, it was nice talking with you again. I expect preparations will be finished by tomorrow. See you then."

Rose could feel River seething with rage, but she didn't speak. And, to her shock, the moment Kovarian disappeared, she made no attempt to escape. She simply sat back in the chair and brooded. Rose had never seen her so still, so quiet, so... inactive. So undetermined. It was like she had lost all hope or care, and it sent a spear of worry and pain through her.

Very quietly, very solemnly, River dipped her head and cried.

It was harder and stronger and more overwhelming than anything Rose had ever seen. The tears came hot and fast, with wild abandon, and she felt River's head flare with the pain they caused. She went on and on and on, never stopping or slowing, whimpering on occasion, choked coughs escaping her lips.

Rose had both imagined and seen River as a headstrong, brave woman, who didn't take crap from anyone else, followed in the Doctor's footsteps, and did things in her own reckless way. The woman she now saw, who didn't have enough strength to hold back her sorrows, was not the same person. Although she didn't fully understand the conversation she'd just heard, Rose knew she'd managed to stumble upon another side of River, an altogether weaker one, that could only bow her head and cry when alone, and didn't have the power to stand up to some stupid, pinch-faced woman. Rose had recklessly staggered through the sacred mind of River, and uncovered a dark, secret weakness of hers with insulting indifference. She felt sick with herself and pulled her way out of the memory, shaking it off like beads of water.

She wanted to be out of River's mind; to never return; to forget what she'd just seen. Sadly, Rose knew that the last one would never be possible, and she was disgusted by herself because of it. However, the first two were quickly granted. She felt herself being pulled back: the hazy, busy atmosphere of River's mind began to slink away, becoming smaller and indistinct until it was far gone. Rose flung through nothing and found herself back in her own body.

It took her a few seconds to remember how to breathe again. When she did, she gasped in big breaths of air, relieved to have the simply deficiency of needing oxygen once again. After a minute or two she settled once again into her bed and stared blankly at the darkness.

What had she done?

* * *

><p>Rory plunged forward through the Doctor's mind, as indistinct and unreal as a spirit. A fleeting shadow. The entire situation was so unnatural and strange to him that he couldn't think straight, or process what was going on. All he could decide on was that he had to do this. After observing that man; after watching him around his wife, gaping as he yelled down terrifying aliens, seeing his face light up as an idea struck him, observing those still moments when they were in danger, and he would pause, face going dark, and look like hell boiled over. He had to know why. He had to understand everything the Doctor had done.<p>

After floating aimlessly for some time, Rory figured it would be best to not choose a specific memory or moment. Instead, he pressed forward and allowed everything to grab him at once, and to just take in as much as he could. He started in the back, as far back as he could dare, to the Doctor's earlier memories.

It started very simply, and hazily. Images of a tall, glorious city incased in an orange orb, misty pictures of tall, sweeping hills that snapped up and down like the edge of a blade, huge citadels and towering buildings that sparkled furiously, smiling faces bursting with both adventure and wisdom, and a menacing arch that held all of time and space in it. Gallifrey, Rory knew. These memories intermingled with future ones, and thus were left with a sort of bittersweet air about them. He moved on.

The next "set" he entered started with a feeling of irritation as the Doctor was unable to get his chameleon circuit working. Then love, and prowess, and determination, and just a spark of pride as Rory saw the face of a young woman that was labeled as his granddaughter. And then pain, and regeneration. So much of it. More faces, more smiling people and brave companions. They flicked by almost too quickly. Susan Foreman, Jo, Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, Ace... face after face, and mixed in was the regeneration, and the danger, and the wild abandon of it all. As he went, he got glimpses of each Doctor. These seemed more down-to-earth and in control of themselves compared to the Doctor he knew. But they were just as wry and smart, just as clever and completely just as dangerous. There were a few that Rory was glad he hadn't known, but others he would have taken over his current state.

Things seemed to shift once again. The companions faded out of view and were replaced by fire, smoke, Timelords and Daleks. Death clouded Rory's head and left him lost. Screaming could be heard, and the golden city from the beginning melted before his eyes and became piles of coal and heaps of ash. Timelords, dying before they could regenerate, hit the ground with protesting wisps of energy curling around their bodies and sightless eyes. Nothing but flames and destruction could be seen. Burning rage in the mind of the Doctor, that built up to reluctance and pain, and dwindled to grief and sorrow, and then faded into remorse. So much remorse. It ached and burned and flooded the Doctor without care, leaving him weak, leaving him as nothing. Rory didn't no what to think.

And then a face, and then a Rose, and then the simple word: "Run."

This came and went, being replaced by a new Doctor, an energetic, snappy one that never seemed to lose his stride. The faces became more familiar: Rose appeared once again, and Martha and Donna. The reign of the Doctor seemed to know no end, and neither did he.

This faded, and from the ashes of its demise rose the Eleventh Doctor, the smiling face of Amelia Pond reaching out to him, and he reaching back. Leaving. Tendrils of remorse that he couldn't focus on, too hyped up by his own regeneration and the hope of a new TARDIS in the near future. Facing a fierce enemy and shooting him down, all the while with Amy and Rory behind him. On his first impression, thinking Rory was odd. Even from within the mind of the Doctor he wasn't sure how to translate that.

And then hairline cracks following them across the universe, and Amy's bitter assault on the Doctor's lips, and Rory's sudden join of the team, during which the Timelord seemed to take on newfound appreciation of him. And then his own death, which although very hazy in his own mind seemed like crystal in the Doctor's. Rory then near screeched to a halt as he saw that final moment between himself and the Doctor before his two thousand year vigil beside the Pandorica. He seemed to think Rory as a bit noble, and not as slow or useless as he might have been before. His thoughts treated Rory as almost... _profound_... And then there was the Silence, and Kovarian. Here Rory skimmed, for the Doctor's thoughts were dark and sad and seemed to clash with each other, and he didn't want to get too involved.

He lingered for only a moment on the next phase, that took place in an underground moon millions of miles away. Here the Doctor emanated nothing but worry, pain, and a good bought of fear. Near the end he pulled away, getting some wily thoughts from the Timelord and once again not wanting to be involved.

And then they were here, and trying to work out this. Rory picked up that the Doctor was frazzled, and even, to a small extent, just a bit out of his league. He was making it up as he went. But Rory dug, and found that he had in fact been serious about his idea to switch them back, and so he felt satisfied.

He also got the idea that his time was up. The mind of the Doctor began to feel slippery in his mental grasp and then fell away, spinning into the abyss and far from Rory. He too spun, although the other way, and found himself back in his own body. After a moment of recovery, he turned his attention back to the wall and tried to think.

He had seen so much... almost all of the Doctor's life. He had seen war and famine, but beauty and happiness as well. He'd watched, in flashes, as he met people who Rory knew today and took down enemies he'd never dreamed of. Watched as he'd made the decision of his life, felt pain greater than anything else, wondered things that were unspeakable in his eyes. He'd braved through dark hours almost recklessly, seen things he'd never dared to think about before.

And he'd learned bloody nothing from it. The Timelord was still just as much a mystery and irritation to Rory Pond as ever before.

* * *

><p>Oh - for the record, the song Madame Kovarian was playing was, "Doctor, brave and good, we stayed away from violence when he understood the falling of the Silence."<p> 


	19. Chapter 19 Failing

GOD. I mean, I've really been slacking. And I know you guys say how it always takes you so long in between chapters, but my first story was a chapter a day, no matter what. I want to get back to that. I'm going to get back to that. I have to, for you guys. My plan is to devote a lot of today (Friday) to writing, and just spit as much as I can at you guys.

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><p>"Whirrr..." Jack's mind spun lazy circles around his consciousness, over and over, looping the parts of his brain just only barely capable of thinking. Where was he again? What had happened? Sarah Jane's house, the Dalek, someone... - had they been apologizing? - to him from behind, and then... a lot of pain. In his skull. Dimly he realized the remnants of it were throbbing in the back to his head. He tried to reach up and feel it, check for any permanent damage, but found suddenly that he couldn't move his arms. A fair bit of wiggling revealed that he was tied up.<p>

Jack frowned and looked around him. He was still in Sarah Jane's room, and still her, but the big difference was that he was tied to a chair. Despite the pounding in his head, his fuzzy hearing was beginning to clear, and the muffled sounds of voices came through. Eyes focusing, he blinked and saw to his surprise Clyde and Rani, hovering almost menacingly above the Dalek in Donna's body, still tied to its chair, and glaring resolutely up at them.

"Hey- What?" He was up immediately, shaking his head to clear any remaining fog.

Clyde turned. The mixture of emotions slapped onto his face left Jack feeling a bit lost. "Well, she's up," he mumbled.

Rani had turned too, and she looked bluntly dismayed. "Better late than never, I suppose." She stepped forward, swallowed, and turned suddenly business-like. Her eyes pierced Jack with a look he didn't know she was capable of, so dark and angry that he nearly jumped. "We know you're an imposter," she stated flatly. "Tell us who you are, and where Sarah Jane is, and things will be easier for you."

He resorted to his default, almost immediately, out of nothing more than habit – lying. "What are you talking about?" As an afterthought, he added a weak laugh. "Guys, it's me."

He saw Clyde's jaw tense. "You couldn't possibly be more fake. Who are you?"

It was true – the sudden, unexpected suspicions had left Jack out of his element. His lies were messy, his acting second-best. "What- How did you... What would make you think that-"

Rani was all fire, all anger and heat, all rage, despair and revenge. She was a queen in her own domain. Tone like ice, she raised her finger and pointed. "Who is this?"

Of course she was pointing at the Dalek. It raised Donna's head a half an inch and met his eyes. "I..." He'd lost what little ground he'd had, and Jack knew it. Almost half-heartedly he continued, "I was wondering the same thing."

They were quiet. The oppressive silence was the worst thing that he'd ever heard.

"You know it's over. The stupid charade is done. Answer us," Clyde said softly.

Jack lowered his head. He took a deep breath; two. Through mere slits of his eyes, he looked up at them and murmured, "You don't understand what's going on. You have to trust me when I say that-"

"Trust you? Sorry, _trust you_?" Rani flared. "Trust you after you imitate our best friend, hide the real one from us, and lock some innocent, too-scared-to-speak woman in the house? Please, amaze me. Tell me how it is that I'm supposed to trust you."

He sat up and met both their eyes as best he could. "Believe me when I say this: Sarah Jane Smith is safe. I know her... in some of the ways you do. We are _not_ enemies. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and got into some... trouble. We're going to fix it. You don't need to be worried, or fear me."

"I've heard the same garbage from a lot of other aliens," Clyde growled. "And none of them were telling the truth. Why should I believe you?"

"Because..." Jack paused, sighing. He wasn't fully certain what to say, so he figured he might as well do what he did best – stagger his way through it and worry about the results later. "I don't know why, kid. All I know is that I'm in some shit and I'd like to get out of it, and being tied to a chair isn't helping. I tried my best to keep you from it, but I failed. I failed, okay? And now you think I'm evil, and that I'm the cause for all of your problems, and that I'm some alien here to infiltrate your base and take over the world. But..." he hesitated. "But I'm not. I _was_ just a Time Agent, a wannabee Time Agent, a once-upon-a-time Agent, and now I'm nothing but an anomaly of human nature floating through the dredges of space. I'm an idiot who thinks he can lead a motley crew of alien hunters through the fires of hell and back, but I can't. I can't even stay alive each day. I've already lost count of how many times I've died, and I take what I have for granted. I took Owen for granted, I took Tosh for granted... Fuck, I even took Ianto for granted. She should have died a thousand times over, stupid Gwen. Stupid Gwen, brilliant Gwen, stubborn Gwen. I did this to her, I screwed her up, just like I did to everyone else. And now I got sucked into this stupid thing that I didn't want to be a part of, and because I failed, because I didn't try, I've brought you two into it too. So there. There, then. I'm an idiot. I'm not a killer, not an alien. Just an idiot."

After a moment's silence, Rani narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, glaring at him. "Wh-"

Everyone looked up as they heard the front door opening.

Rani and Clyde tensed, looking between the Dalek, Jack and the door. The Dalek raised her head two inches more, but showed no further interest. Jack bit his lip, surprised.

The door clicked shut.

There was an infinity of silence in which a thousand civilizations could have ended, and then a voice said, low and testy, "Jack? You there?"

"Martha," he cursed under his breath. Rani was alive in an instant, glaring down at Jack. She and Clyde flew through the door like wildfire. Jack heard the sound of a short-lived scuffle outside, Martha crying out, and then the two of them had returned with her.

"This one of your friends?" Clyde snapped.

Martha looked strangely delicate. She had a dark black backpack slung over one arm, and a black shirt over faded denims. Clyde and Rani held both of her wrists tightly. Jack watched as she took in the entire situations in two heartbeats, eyes flashing across the whole room. "Er- I... I really feel like I might have just walked in on a _huge_ misunderstanding, and if you don't mind, I think I might be able to ex-"

"I wasn't talking to you," Clyde said shortly. "I'll ask again, imposter. Who is this?"

Jack's cards were on the table. He figured it was time he went for the truth. "She's... a friend of mine." They both looked ready to cry out success. "_But_, she's also a friend of a lot of people. Like... Like the Doctor, for example."

They both fell silent. Rani gave Martha a scrutinizing glare, watching her carefully. "It shouldn't come as a surprise that I don't believe you."

"No, it doesn't," he consented.

"What's in your bag?" Clyde snapped at Martha. She tensed.

"I... a lot of things. Listen, I'm not dangerous, and neither is he- she... my friend. I was actually here about this girl you see," she gestured at the Dalek. "It's a long story, but she's the most dangerous thing in the room, I'd say, _exceptthat_!"

As she'd been speaking, Clyde had been rifling through her backpack. At that moment, Martha spun free of Rani and snatched it from him with such speed that the rest of the room moved slowly through Jack's eyes.

"What was that? Some sort of a gem?" Clyde glared at her, eyes flicking towards the bag. "Is it alien? Did you steal it?"

"What? No!" Martha stammered, clutching the bag to her chest. "It's... listen, it's dangerous, okay? It's _very_ dangerous, and you absolutely cannot touch it."

While she was looking away, and before Jack could warn her, Rani stole the backpack from Martha's grasp. "We're the ones giving the orders here. Now what's so special about thi-"

As Rani had reached for the crystal, Martha bravely lunged forward and smacked the bag from her, causing the crystal to fly out and land on the floor with a loud clink. Clyde went for it, but Martha pulled him back by his ankle, and it ended up rolling across the floor and landing softly against Jack's shoe.

"It touched her," Rani said flatly.

"Not skin," Martha replied, sounding hoarse.

Jack swallowed. "Listen, if we keep this up, things we'll get really messy. I know you two don't trust us, but will you give us the benefit of the doubt for at least a little while? We can sit out in the front room and explain this. Everything will be clear when we're done, I promise."

Clyde huffed, standing up as he brushed himself off. "Well, either way, you two are the worst villains I've ever seen, and that one is the worst captive." He gave Rani a reluctant look. "I'm willing to allow it, but... don't try anything or this day will be your last." He gave them both fierce, pointed glares.

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane shook her head, trying to stay awake and focused. She'd been drifting off again, consciousness fleeing to the back of her mind as her vision focused on one area and then blurred. It had happened entirely too much throughout the day, ever since she'd woken up. She'd left Jack's office once so far, early in the morning, to get a cup of coffee, and hadn't been seen by anyone since. Down beneath her, on the main floor of the base, Gwen and Rhys were talking in low voices, undoubtedly about the events of yesterday. Sarah couldn't even imagine thinking about it. If her thoughts even lighted on that path – which happened far too often – her head would spin, her mind would reel…<p>

She swallowed, rubbing her eyes until they ached from the pressure, and stood, pacing around the room, hoping the movement would help. It didn't. She sighed, turning, and looked down at the base again. Her base, at least for now. Her base until this whole mess was straightened out. Her Gwen, her Rhys. Her responsibility. Had she failed? Yes, of course she had, there was no doubt there. She'd nearly killed both of them in an explosion that she could have avoided if she'd been paying better attention, focusing harder, staying in her element and doing what she did best. But she hadn't. She'd failed. Jack never would have let something like this happen.

She looked down on the two of them and her lip trembled. If there was one thing the Doctor had taught her, it was that she had to face her fears. Always. No matter the cost.

The fire, the heat. If she focused hard, she could remember the feeling as it licked her skin. Closing her eyes, the moment became clearer. The hopper she'd been hiding behind had been knocked back and purely out of instinct she'd dove out of the way – right into the heart of the flames.

And they'd burned, and burned, and burned, until there was nothing left.

She might have screamed during it all, she wasn't sure. Things became fuzzy after the moment when the flames hit her. Very fuzzy, and very hot. Yes, she'd burned, without a doubt. Burned away until her mind died and she was nothing but cinders. And yet…

And yet she hadn't, for here she was, alive and well. She had burned, yes, but she had also lived, for Jack Harkness cannot die, no matter who owns his body at the time.

Before the life, though, had come the blackness, the endless black, on and on and on, impenetrable, flat without end….

She shivered. Should she tell someone? Gwen already knew, but not fully. She didn't understand who Sarah Jane was, or why she was here, or even what was really going on. And anyways, the Jack she knew wouldn't go to Gwen for consoling. Where she was now, alone and even afraid in Torchwood, was no place to get the help she needed.

Jack would understand, maybe. Probably. But he wasn't the right person to go to for help, not at all. He didn't… socialize. It wouldn't be right for her to put him on the spot like that.

There was another. Another, so far away, so ancient and unreal, so unbelievable, wild, and irritating. Maybe he would understand.

But not yet. Here, in Torchwood, stuck as Captain Jack Harkness, was no time to be hunting him down. Sarah Jane would get her chance, if she was patient, and she knew it. It only barely seemed worth it, though. The pain, the ache in her head, the ancient throes of fear, all intermingled with one word: death. Death, and the darkness. The endless darkness, the oppressive darkness, the great, huge, powerful black.

Before now, she'd given little thought to death, or what would come after it. Her life had been too busy and exciting to care. But now? Now, she knew. She held the burden of knowledge that no one should ever have to endure. And... and now what? She was just supposed to go on living and not bother?

How did Jack do it?


	20. Chapter 20 Like Daughter, Like Mother

OH YEAH. I like this chapter a great deal, to be honest. The first bit ended up being WAYYYYYY more angsty than I'd originally planned, but oh well. I like how it turned out.

I'm gradually working my way towards a climax, just so you know. And another notice: This story has now officially succeeded Lost Companions both in page and word count length.

* * *

><p>Hands, feet, skin, flesh, blood, bone, and best of all, one heart. Human. <em>Human, human, human<em>. Finally, Rory was himself again, and he couldn't be happier. There was an imprint to it, a sort of familiarity, almost like a scent, that set his own body apart from any other. He was at home within it, safe in his own element, out of reach from dangerous things such as lying to his wife. He was almost giddy with joy – the Doctor's strategy with the crystal had worked. Sort of.

He himself was leaning against the edge of the console next to where the crystal lay, wringing his hands together, and Rory couldn't help but think that he too looked very relieved, despite his next comment. "I don't get why it hasn't died, or exploded, or... fizzled up. Whatever you'd like to call it. We reversed what we'd started with the thing, used its energy to change us again... so why doesn't it die?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," he replied. His voice had never sounded so nice or comforting before.

"Well," he said. "We took the chaotic energy it had gathered from switching us and transmitted it into biochemical energy – a lot of it, too – which we then used to switch us back. At the very least, the thing should be dead, or dormant. It shouldn't have any energy. But it does."

"Hmm," Rory frowned. He mostly understood what he was saying, and it worried him.

The Doctor brought a hand to his lips, leaning against it in thought. "The more we get into this mystery, Rory, the less I like it. For every success I reach, it seems to have some trick up its sleeve to combat me. It's very much otherworldly, moreso than anything I'm used to."

"That's saying something," he agreed, and after last night, the words had more weight than ever before.

He turned, leaning down to glare at the crystal. It glowed a soft purple with its own intensity and power, jagged edges glistening with raw energy. Raw chaos. "It refuses to give me any answers, Rory. It's just impudent. It's like the bloody thing is mocking me. And..." The Time Lord seemed almost confused for a moment. "I'm not sure I know what to do."

Rory frowned. "Well... we made it out fine. It's not like the thing killed us. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Will I?" he replied quietly, not looking up. "I always do, don't I? I've kept you and Amy in one piece, more or less. I kept Rose safe. And Sarah Jane, Donna, and Martha." He paused for a long moment, and although he leaned in closer to the crystal, his eyes strayed up to meet Rory's. They were filled with such a liquid intensity, molten and dark, filled with all sorts of broken longings and shadowy regrets, that Rory was truly filled with horror at the age of the man in front of him. "I took care of Ace, and Susan, and Jo. But perhaps you would know about all that better, wouldn't you Rory?"

"I..." he blinked, took a step back, and frowned. "How did you know?"

He looked away. His fingers hovered over the crystal, quietly inspecting it, but never getting very close. "Rory..." he seemed to struggle with something for a moment and straightened up, meeting him with the full impact of his endless, pale green gaze. "Rory... If there's one thing I've never lied about, it's who I am. I always tell them I'm the Doctor, because it's true. I always tell them I'm a Timelord, that I'm over a thousand years old, that I'm alien and dangerous and shouldn't be trusted." He took a step forward. "I _always_ tell _everyone_ that. But you never get it, not fully. Sure, you understand that I'm ancient, but you never get what that means. You never get the essence of what that truly is." Another step forward. "You never understand that that means _I'm over a thousand years old_. You never understand the reality of that, the impact. The things I've seen, the people I've..." he looked away for several seconds, and when he looked back there was a fire in his eyes. "The people ruined. Marred. Destroyed. The people I've killed."

He walked back to the crystal, very slowly. "I don't think it would be very hard for me to notice one blunt, obtrusive human consciousness slipping its way through my head in the middle of the night."

"I..." Rory stammered. There was nothing anyone could say in a situation like this. "I didn't mean..."

"You brought all those things to the surface, Rory, when you dug them up and sifted through them." The Doctor's head was once again solemnly bowed over the crystal, eyes closed. "And since I was awake, since I never relish in the joys of sleep, I had to re-experience it all. And because you're human, and you're stupid, and 'over a thousand years old' means nothing to you, you don't understand what that was like for me. You don't understand..." his teeth were gritted, expression strained. "...What you were doing."

Rory was stunned. He opened his mouth to speak, but the Doctor beat him to it. "The things, Rory, that I've buried. The people, the places, the events. The amount of death I've caused. There's a reason I don't think about that. There's a reason you try to ignore all the pain you went through when you guarded the Pandorica as a Roman. But there was no reason for you to destroy the stupid, weak, human little barriers I'd set up in my head. There's no explanation for that."

Both of them were quiet for a long time. The only noise was the gentle whirr of the TARDIS, lulling, and yet still somehow menacing. "Go, Rory. Try to find your wife. I'm sure she's worried about you."

The comment was so quiet that Rory almost didn't hear it. The Doctor didn't look up, or move at all. He was staring with bloodred intensity at the other side of the TARDIS, and made no other comment. His jaw was tightly clenched and Rory almost thought he could see tears in his eyes.

He took a few hesitant steps back, and then quickly made for the door. He wasn't sure what to think or say. He felt like he'd ruined half the universe with one breath just then. As he slipped outside, he found himself unable to properly think.

What had he done?

* * *

><p><em>Rose?<em> She tried. _Rose, c'mon, please answer me. I know you're awake._

River couldn't believe how frustrating it was when Rose wouldn't answer. I mean yeesh, they could communicate without even having to be next to each other and she wouldn't take advantage of that? What if she had something important to say? What if she was in danger, or had discovered something helpful? It was immensely useful, despite the cost, to have this ability, and it was just plain snobbish of Rose to ignore her.

Despite her irritations, River couldn't be that angry. In all honesty, she was actually feeling very much guilty and even a bit useless because of it. She tried to search for Donna, and that failed. She tried using the crystal to get some answers, and that failed. She ruined Rose for the sake of trying to be victorious. She could understand how the girl might be upset.

River had been feeling a bit out of sorts lately. Ever since the wedding, she figured. She'd seen the Doctor since, but before now, none of them had known they were married. Was he hiding from her, somehow, or was it just bad luck? She couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming – something big and awful and unwanted. It was ingrained in more than just her DNA to expect danger, but this was different. It was like... a looming shadow over her life, waiting to slap down and crush her.

The wedding itself was a bit fuzzy in her memory, mainly because of all the time travel involved, but deep in her heart she suspected it might also be from fear. The whole thing had been like a dream – but a nightmare, too. The world literally crumbling around them, watching him wrap the bowtie around his wrist, and then hers, feeling the shiver of time unraveling as they touched. And then Lake Silencio, for the umpteenth time, and his death, the real one, finally. Except not, because she'd married a fake. A bloody fake. And he tries to use that as an excuse?

She was a bit frustrated with just about everything right now, it was true. The entire situation was just refusing to go her way. The crystal was like a monster, swallowing all their hopes of success. At this point, River even wished she was back in her own body. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable, stranded here and out of her element. She was mainly worried about Rose, though. The blonde had been pushed around enough recently.

River just hoped she'd be able to patch things up with her.

* * *

><p>Amy ran a hand through her hair, sighing under her breath. She was in the console room of the TARDIS, long abandoned by the Doctor, who had gone outside for unknown reasons. She wasn't sure where Rory was, but at the moment could care less. Her husband had seemed fantastically distant in the past few days, slipping behind corners when she appeared, and abruptly finding reasons to leave when she approached. She hadn't said anything, but it made her irritated. What was he hiding?<p>

Amy was always one to be in the know, even when she was a little kid. She would always be listening, ears pricked for anything anyone said, and wanted to know what it meant. Although the characteristic had matured, she was still certain that Rory was hiding something, and it made her feel blind, like she was trapped in the dark. What could he be doing that he didn't want her to know about?

Not only that, but she was also feeling terribly useless. She usually found something helpful to do, or thought up some brilliant plan when she was with the Doctor, but here and now... she felt like a dead weight that was dragging everyone else down. She'd even asked the Doctor for help earlier, but he'd turned her down as though she'd just get in the way. She felt like a flower – pretty, and perhaps even nice, but absolutely and utterly doing nothing useful, and completely in everyone's way.

Her eyes wandered across the console, along with her hand, and both paused when she saw the crystal sitting on it. It was in a small casing set into the console, with a thin little glass case over it. The gem glowed with unnatural power, filling the nearby area with an eerie, bluish-purple light. It even seemed to hum softly, as though hissing with barely-contained energy.

Now there's a thought.

Just looking at the thing set Amy's mind into a flurry. Suddenly she was brainstorming, trying to put two and two together, connecting little bits of everything to the bigger picture, just in the way she always tried to do when she was with the Doctor. And an idea struck her.

What if... it was a longshot, yes, but it made sense – enough sense for Amy to consider it. What if she touched the crystal when no one else was nearby?

She looked around, and even after a hesitant moment called out. There was in fact no one in the nearby area. Martha had left to go find Donna – she told everyone else that Sarah Jane had found her body. River was... not here, she knew that much. The Doctor had left the TARDIS, and Rose was out in hopes of finding a crystal piece. For one of the first times in her life, she had no interest whatsoever as to where Rory was.

So... so what, then? What if she just touched it?

A few seconds of searching revealed a small red button that opened the glass hatch. The moment it was exposed, the crystal seemed to glow even brighter than ever, as though sensing Amy was there. That was enough to make her hesitate. This thing, in essence, was alive. It was alive, and seemed to watch her with a malevolent power. This was exactly the sort of object she shouldn't even consider touching. But what if she was right? What if it really did something useful? Before she could think about it any longer, Amy reached out with long, trembling fingers and touched the crystal.

Things did not go as she'd hoped.

* * *

><p>Amy's first thought when she regained consciousness was that she was tied to the ceiling of the console room. She could see the entire area below her, the walls glowing a soft yellow from the lights of the TARDIS, and was able to see all of it clearly.<p>

As she became accustomed to this simple fact, she found that the view she had seemed to expand itself, and suddenly Amy could see much, much more of the TARDIS. In fact, she could see all of it. Every single room, every single compartment, every single object and what was inside of each one. She could pinpoint everything going on in every room.

Her head was filled with a sort of thickness; a pressure in the back of her skull, similar to the feeling received when you know someone is watching you, but much, much stronger. Mentally – but somehow at the same time physically – she turned. And saw everything.

All around her, waiting behind her back like a cloak, was the universe, and everything that came with it. Dangerously, she looked closer, and saw she could pick out people among crowds of planets, find aliens living their normal lives, creatures doing whatever it was that they did.

She reeled back quickly, nearly crushed by the power of what she'd just seen. She turned again, back to the TARDIS. She felt a bit dazed, and unable to organize her thoughts. Focusing as best she could, Amy centered her attention on the console room. Slightly more alert now, she could see the Doctor and Rory within it... hovering over her. Her body, at least. So what had happened when she touched the crystal? It made no sense. Why was she here, in this sort of limbo within the TARDIS?

Watching carefully, she saw her own body stir, and then wake. Who was it though? As she watched, she saw her husband reel back, looking shocked. The Doctor did much the same thing, but he just looked stunned, as though utterly unable to believe whatever it was that he was seeing.

Amy pulled herself away from the scene, trying to organize her thoughts. She couldn't breathe – or otherwise found no need to do so – but she had a feeling that if she was her breath would have come out in short gasps. It was apparent that something had gone wrong, and she was beginning to make sense of it. She pulled the pieces of the puzzle together. All of time and space behind her, being able to see all of the TARDIS at once, touching the crystal with no one else around, Rory and the Doctor looking shocked...

Yes, yes, it made sense now. It was undoubtedly the answer, no matter how much she didn't like it.

Amy wasn't in the TARDIS – she _was_ the TARDIS.


	21. Chapter 21 Free

Yay! I made words! :D

So, it's the Super Bowl... what was your favorite commercial?

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><p>Clyde looked away from Jack as he finished explaining his story. The boy's eyes were dark, and he frowned, looking troubled. "Well then, what choice do I have... Jack? I have to let you go if you're telling the truth. But if you're not..." His dark expression went ever-blacker.<p>

"He _is_ telling the truth," Rani mumbled, coming in from the other room. She had Donna's wrist firmly gripped in her hand. "This one spilled the truth."

The Dalek snarled, made a half-hearted attempt to yank its wrist away, and then looked towards the wall, brooding. "We're sorry for any confusion," Martha sighed, giving Donna's body a nervous glance. "It's just... well, we didn't have much choice."

"I understand, I guess," Clyde consented. "But you _promise_ Sarah Jane is safe?"

Jack raised his head. He looked at Clyde, but his eyes seemed far away. "Yes Clyde, I do. I think... I don't know, but I think I would know if she wasn't."

"Well, I suppose you'll need... this, then," Rani said, shooting Donna a wary glance. She too seemed troubled.

"Yes, that was the reason I'd come down here actually. Sorry about the ruddy timing Jack," Martha said, smiling sheepishly. "I guess we'll just-" At that moment, a cell phone in her pocket began ringing. She passed everyone a look and then picked it up.

"Yes, who is this? Doctor?" (Here Rani and Clyde sucked in a sharp breath and exchanged glances, but neither said anything.) "What is it? Who? Sorry, what are you talking about?" She paused for a moment, and very faintly the voice of the Doctor, sharp and urgent, could be heard. Jack's heart was pounding, knowing the Timelord was so close in that moment, but he was unable to pick out his words. "Amy's done _what_? Oh god, I'll be over as quick as I can. I know. Bye."

"What's going on?" Jack asked, seeing as Martha was now a blur, grabbing her coat, firmly wrapping her arm around Donna's, getting her things together.

"The crystal's struck again," she replied grimly. "He needs my help, I have to go."

"I'm coming with," he replied.

"What?" Martha was temporarily frozen. "No, Jack, I'm sorry but you can't. I can't deal with you, the Doctor, and this whole crystal business at the same time. I wouldn't be able to cover for you."

He shook his head. "Forget that, it doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that you guys get all the help you can, and I can help. I've dealt with a lot of alien stuff. I might be of use."

"As _Sarah Jane_?"

"Yes," he huffed. "I don't care what you say, Martha, I'm coming."

Her eyes traveled slowly across the room, and the Dalek watched her, his eyes narrow slits. She sighed. "Fine, Jack. But whatever happens isn't my fault."

"What about us?" Rani asked. She looked vaguely jealous.

Clyde gave her a knowing look before turning to the two of them. "Just say hi to the Doctor for us, alright?"

Martha slowed, and after a second smiled. "You've got it. Now c'mon Jack."

As she flew out the door, he lingered at the threshold for a moment, and turned to face the two kids. "Well, hopefully this'll be the last time you'll have to deal with me."

"Just... just bring Sarah Jane back in one piece, okay?" Clyde asked softly.

"Only if you keep this one safe," he gestured at Rani, passed Clyde a knowing wink, and was gone.

* * *

><p>Most of the time, the run down old house was as quiet as death, but not today. As Donna sat, waiting in silence, she began to hear shouting from upstairs. It started with voices being raised on occasion, voices muffled through the wood, but gradually grew to full-blown shouting. After a while she heard a few screeches, and realized in dismay it was the bitter, anguished sound of a little boy crying his heart out. And still the yelling went on, an awful, pounding din.<p>

At first Donna was just irritable she didn't know what was going on. She wished she could understand whatever problem was taking place, maybe even help. But the longer James's crying went on, the angrier she became. What right did these two insolent boys have to ruin their helpless, younger friend's life?

The yelling cut off, suddenly and abruptly with the sound of a door slamming, and pounding footsteps coming her way. Through the door came Reid, eyes narrowed and angry, a thin gray bag slung over his shoulder. He didn't lower his gaze, or look away at all. He met Donna's eyes with a fiery passion, a burning anger, and snapped, "If I let you go, will you leave us and never return?"

"Yes," she said automatically, not even thinking. It was like that word had been waiting on her tongue her whole life, waiting for this moment.

"Fine then," he stepped forward and began untying her, simultaneously calling, "James!"

More footsteps pounding overhead. "What happened?" Donna ventured.

He looked like he might snap at her, but finally said, "Cor got ideas that I don't like, ideas about you, and James was put in the middle. I decided not to stand for it."

"What sort of ideas about me?"

He didn't say anything until the ropes were fully untied, at which point he stepped back. "He wanted to sell you on the black market, or trash you. I disagreed. I thought we could do better with equipment like yours. He got... angry." The boy paused for a moment, then added, "I'm leaving."

"And you're just going... to let me go?" Donna was stunned.

Before he could answer, James appeared in the threshold. "I've got my stuff, Reid," he mumbled.

Reid nodded. "C'mon. Alien, can you move?"

"Yes," she said, unable to keep a pricking of irritation out of her voice. They made it to the front door – Donna and Reid were even outside – when Cor appeared at the top of the stairs. His eyes were dark, expression unreadable.

"You're taking it, too? Why?"

"I'm not," Reid said. "We're letting it go."

"What?" he thundered. "Why? That thing was our prize! We would 'ave lived easy using it, Reid? Why are you doing this?"

"You don't get it, Cor," he sighed. "I think I've figured out a few things now, and one of them is that this thing has a life just like us, and we should let it get back to that. I'm not letting you control us, or the alien."

"Damnit," he snapped, heading down the stairs.

Reid seemed to take this as his cue. He pushed past Donna, turning to the right, and glared at her. "Just go, please. This is your fault. I don't want to leave Cor on his own, but I have to now, because of you. Please, just please go."

She began to slink away as James came out the door. "Please don't do this, Cor. It's innocent, whatever it is. Don't hurt it." He turned to Donna and gave her a look like fire. "Thank you, but you have to go now. It's not safe anymore."

Thank you. It's innocent. His words rung quietly in Donna's ears. She gave a single nod of her eyestalk, then turned and hurried off as quickly as she could. She heard shouting behind her, mainly from the two older boys, but gradually it faded away with distance, and the world fell silent. Donna moved quickly, knowing she had to get to the safety of the TARDIS. Despite her pain, despite all she'd just seen, it was time she got back.

It was time to see the Doctor again.

* * *

><p>Rose's vision blurred as she stared blankly at the ivory tree trunks surrounding her. She was exhausted and dazed after last night, and her mind felt pained and disorganized. Her thoughts were beginning to drift deeper into her subconscious when suddenly she heard leaves rustling behind her to her left. She turned and saw River, looking – for the first and only time Rose could ever think of – rather sheepish.<p>

"What?" she asked. "How did you find me?"

River looked down guiltily. "I read your mind. Nice hiding place though. Very forest-y and nice, easy to get lost in. Rather far from the TARDIS. I like it."

"Well, thanks, I guess," she muttered, looking away. There was a moment of silence before River spoke. Hearing her own voice, speaking to her in a measured way, like an utterly different person, gave Rose an eerie feeling.

"You know, I didn't mean to cause all this trouble Rose. That wasn't my design at all. I suppose, to be honest, I wasn't really thinking."

_I wasn't thinking_. Rose was sent back to a moment that felt like ages ago, when the Doctor had spoken those same words to her, and it had made the ground beneath her feet shake. There was no such effect here – with River, it was different. She wasn't the same. She wasn't an ancient Timelord, an endless entity, the sort who didn't make mistakes and never stopped thinking. With River, the words were hollow. They meant nothing.

"If it helps," she said gently, reading Rose's mind. "I don't really mind whether you forgive me or not. It's just good to get it out."

Rose stood from the tree stump she'd been sitting on, crying out in shock. "You read my mind again! You saw me thinking about that! You saw that, when we were in the TARDIS... and, and we kissed..."

She backed away as River took a step forward. "I... well, it's not so much that I don't mind, but... With him, it's different. I can't blame either of you for that."

"But you read my mind, you saw that, that personal thing, you... you..." _You did what I did_, Rose thought, but she stopped speaking. What right did she, the girl who had broken all barriers of River's mind, have to yell at her?

"I'm sorry," she said, and Rose believed her. "It's... well, it's liberating, this power. To read anyone's mind, to know what they're thinking, what they've seen and done... That's huge. That's huge and dangerous, and powerful, and, well, sort of cool."

"I think I get it," she said, but wasn't so sure. Did she really? She hadn't truly used the power at all, except when River had instigated her, and not all the time even then. After a hesitant moment of silence, Rose reached forward and looked into River's mind.

_There, see?_ Her voice said clearly in her head. _It's not bad. My cards are on the table too. In a way, we're equals here._

But they weren't, and Rose knew it. She tried to hide her thoughts about last night, to put up a barrier between them and River. Struggling to focus, she spoke aloud, "I still don't like it. It's obtrusive. It- It makes people do things they'll regret."

"I agree," River said almost immediately. She felt her presence leave Rose's mind as well. "It's not a good thing, power like this. That's why the Doctor's trying to get rid of it."

She looked away. "What about him? What is it that makes you love him? Or... or the other way around?"

She laughed softly. "Oh, I don't know about him. Who knows if he even cares about me? But... Hmm, what makes me love him, you say..." She began a slow pace, and Rose subconsciously began to settle down onto her tree stump again. "I can't really place it. It's something about his power, I think. He's the type where the dominance in a relationship would never stay in one place between the two of us. It would go back and forth, no real control, like a dance. That's something I'd like in a man, I think. That he doesn't have to be in control all the time."

"For me, it goes the other way," she said, somewhat wryly. "He can take the control, too. And he's the type where I wouldn't know what to do if he _wasn't _in the lead."

"Sometimes I think that, too," she replied. "He's definitely much more clever than me. But you know... I'm not as young as I look. Certainly not as old as him, but... old enough to have lost count."

This was news to Rose. She stared at River – or rather River in her body – almost a bit uncertainly, wondering what other secrets the girl held. Of course she didn't wonder enough to try sneaking in her head again. Rose didn't think she'd ever try anything like that again. But she wondered enough to look at River in a different light now.

"I think he likes you," she said. "Just because you're so otherworldly. I... I think he likes it, because it makes him feel like he's closer to you. I don't have that. I'm just human."

River laughed loudly. "He takes humans with him wherever he goes! I'm certain he's found some appeal in them, Rose."

Rose was quiet for a moment, smiling. "You're right, River. And... I do accept your apology. It won't be that big of a deal anyways, when everything's straightened out. Thank you."

She stood and began walking back in the general direction of the TARDIS. River stood there for a moment, watching her disappear. "No, Rose. Thank you." She followed the blonde back into the tangle of trees.


	22. Chapter 22 Ensnared

Haha! I'm so excited right now, you don't even know.

* * *

><p>"Why is she like this? What happened? What's going on, Doctor?" Rory raised his head from his wife's inanimate body, frowning fearfully.<p>

"I don't know Rory," he said. The Timelord was standing above them, eyes moving shiftily across the TARDIS console room. His lips were a dark, thin line. "What I do know, however, is that the crystal is missing."

Rory sucked in a breath. He peered over the edge of the console and saw it was true – the glass casing had been opened and no trace of the mysterious gem remained. "What? Do you think she touched it? By why would she? And if she had, then what happened? Who could she ha-"

"One question at a time, _please_," the Doctor made a face. He seemed strained, deep in thought, as though truly troubled by what was going on. "There's a logical explanation, and I know it. I just need to think this through. It's simple – it has to be. Who could have been close enough to be switched with her...?"

He swallowed. "What if she's de-"

It was like someone had flicked a switch. Suddenly, Amy's eyes flew open, she sucked in a great breath, her entire body tensed, the very fiber of her being seemed to ache with sudden life. And then she started screaming.

"Ah-" Rory yelped, hands flying to his ears. "Amy? Amy! Is that you? Why are you screaming?"

Gradually the crushing din faded. She sucked in another massive breath and sat up, quick and jerky. Still breathing heavily, she leapt to her feet and cried, "Did anyone else see that? That was fantastic!"

"What wa-" Rory tried, but she wasn't done.

Rounding on the Doctor, she prattled, "I've never felt such _strength!_ Such power! It was like a surge of raw, endless energy! I've never been so invigorated. In fact I've never been invigorated. That's not a normal thing for me and it was _exciting!_ What was that, Doctor?"

He looked so taken aback that Rory felt suddenly nervous. "My god, what has Amy done?" he yelped.

She slowed. "What? Are you afraid to see me? Is it because you weren't answering all of my calls? You know, I left so many little messages for you. Turning a knob there, opening a door here, making the lights flicker everywhere! And you never replied! It's almost enough to make me think you're a bit dull!"

The Doctor's expression was unreadable. "Idris."

"_What_?" Rory howled.

"I thought my name was Sexy!" she bristled. "I can see a lot's changed since the last time we talked."

"I wasn't aware we were _supposed_ to talk again," he countered. Idris was nearly pressed against him, literally in his face.

"Well, I have to keep some secrets. You can't know everything that I know, Doctor. 'All of time and space is readily available through _my_ doors,' that bloody pitch you sell to others. But they're not you're doors. _I'm_ the one who can see it all. I'm the one who's a type 40, symbiotically linked, in-a-state-of-temporal-grace, dimensionally transcendental TARDIS with a broken Chameleon Circuit! Not you! You're always using all of _my_ abilities to get women to travel with you! It's driving me ma- I'm I the only one curious as to why I'm not dying yet?"

"There's a reason," the Doctor said as he began to pace, not missing a beat. "Amy's been time traveling, the original Idris hadn't. She's got huon energy in her system, and as long as her body stays near the TARDIS, you'll be fine."

"Clever, shame that means that I can't go outside and see this Earth you love so much," she followed behind him in his pacing, mimicking his movements. "You're a smart one, Doctor. I'm so happy we can talk again."

"But wait!" Rory's expression and demeanor was that of panic. "If Idris is here, then Amy..."

"...Is the TARDIS," the Doctor finished. He paced in a round circle until he ended up next to the console and rapped it with both hands. "I wonder if she's awake."

"She is," Idris said bluntly.

"How do you know?" he rounded on her. "You're a time machine, you're not male or female. You two shouldn't be able to read minds."

"We can't," she said, smiling. "I can see everything, remember? Before this happened, I remember knowing when she woke up. And I remember saying that. Fish fingers and custard."

"What?" he blurted.

"I said that. So I... said it." she beamed as though this solved all the universe's problems.

He rubbed his face with both hands as he turned back to the console, muttering something about time loops.

"Excuse me?" Rory called. "Could we please maybe focus on my wife here? I'm a bit worried about her."

"Right," the Doctor agreed. He ran his knuckles along the rounded edge of the console. Rory had seen him do motions like this all the time, but at this moment it seemed a bit hesitant, almost wary, as though he was afraid of it. His eyes searched the room, as though looking for answers, and he was silent for a long time, pacing in a circle around the console, hand never leaving it. When he did speak, however, he shouted. "Amy! Can you hear me? I know you're in there! Are you okay?"

Silence. If Rory's body was any more tense, he would have snapped in half. He wasn't really certain what they were waiting for, but the suspense was crippling. Even Idris seemed to be holding her breath, with one hand resting against her middle. After several seconds, Rory gasped in surprise – the console screen had lit up black, and written on it in unassuming white text was the word NO.

The Doctor paced over, standing nearby him. "You mean to say you're not okay?"

The reply took a while to come, but when it did it couldn't have been more terrifying for Rory: IT HURTS.

The Doctor looked away, one hand at his lips, and then to Idris. "She can't handle this sort of thing. No human can," the time machine said. She didn't say it cruelly, or sadly: it was just a fact.

"I know," he replied tersely, and then called, "Amy, I need you to focus. You're trying to take in too much at once. I need you to try best to focus on the TARDIS, and nothing else. The console room if you can't do anymore. Your focus, your attention, is what's keeping this machine alive. If you lose it, you pass out. The TARDIS will die. You might too."

THERES SO MUCH DOCTOR, she said.

"I know," Idris called softly. "There's a lot in there. Just ignore it, Ms. Pond. The universe can go on for awhile without having a TARDIS watching over it. Just pay attention to us. Nothing else matters."

The reply took much longer to come this time. As they waited, a few nearby lights flickered, and some of the spinning knobs on the console slowed. Idris began singing under her breath, a low, mournful song, and rocking on her heels. I CANT. IT STILL HURTS. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.

"Just focus on the console room, Amy. Focus on Rory at the very least. Just focus on something that will help you keep consciousness."

Time seemed to slow. Lights flickered, the machine softly hissed, hidden lights pulsed slowly. Then the screen read: WHERES RORY?

"I'm right here," he said, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. He couldn't even begin to imagine exactly what was going on.

I CAN SEE YOU. The screen went black, but then lit up again. KIND OF. ITS HARD TO DESCRIBE.

"Don't," he told her. "Don't even try. You're distracting yourself by trying to talk to me. Just focus on staying awake."

HOW? She asked. I DONT KNOW WHATS GOING ON NOT REALLY.

He noticed her lack of commas – of punctuation in general – and this scared him as well. Even when on the internet, Amy always used proper grammar. "We're just... we're just here, in the console room. We're here to support you. You just need to try to stay awake, Amy. That's all you should worry about."

NO IT HELPS. The screen protested. The entire room flickered out for a long, terrifying moment before the light returned. KEEP TALKING. SAY SOMETHING. IT HELPS.

He struggled in silence for several seconds before he could speak. His head spun with fear and he couldn't think straight. Idris had stopped singing, but her very existence – to his mind like a virus within Amy – make him lose his concentration. He didn't know where to begin. He didn't know what to make of anything anymore. "Amy, what should I say? All I can do is worry. Are you okay? How did this happen? Why did you touch the crystal? I'm..." he swallowed. "Amy, I'm scared. I don't know what's going on. How am I supposed to help you if I don't even know what to say? Forget why the crystal got touched, I don't even care about that. I care about _you_. I care about you, and how what's going on is going to effect you, and how I might be able to fix it, and anything I can do for you. That's all I care about. That's all I've ever cared about. Amy... Amy, please don't die."

He raised his head to the console screen, only to have his breath stolen away. No reply awaited him; the screen had gone black, along with the rest of the room. All the lights had gone out, and as he raised his head, the moving pillar in the middle of the console slowed and ground to a halt. A soft hiss seemed to escape the machine. The wide eyes of the Doctor and his wife gaped at him through the darkness. The TARDIS was dead.

"I'm going to call Martha," the Doctor said abruptly, voice hoarse.

* * *

><p>"No, Jack. Absolutely not. I won't allow it."<p>

Jack had to move at a slight jog to keep up with Martha. "Just listen, please. I know it sounds insane but I feel like the Doctor is onto something. It would be better if she were there. Just in case."

She paused and turned, sighing heavily. "Torchwood is right around that corner. We can keep walking this way, and hurry to the TARDIS, or you can go over there and get Sarah Jane." she hesitated. "It's your choice, but whatever happens, I'm not getting involved. If something happens to you two... I'm not doing anything."

"Fair enough," he replied, and ran past her, dashing up to the tall, mirror-like spire that made up Torchwood. He ran over to stand in front of the platform entrance, and beckoned frantically for the security cameras. After a few minutes, Jack watched himself appear out of the ground in front of him.

Sarah Jane looked around the area, eyes narrowed, then grabbed Jack and pulled him away from the cameras. "Why did you call me? What if Rhys and Gwen saw?"

He beamed. "They won't. Those two would hardly pay attention if I danced for them naked."

She wrinkled her nose, making a valiant attempt to hide her disgust. "What's going on?"

"The Doctor," he said hurriedly. He stepped forward and they began walking back towards Martha as he spoke. "Something's happened, I'm not completely sure what. Either way, the Doctor just called Martha while she was over. Clyde and Rani... found out, but that's a different story. I'm going with her. I have this feeling something big is going to happen."

She bit her lip, giving him a look, but nodded. "Alright, let's go. No point in waiting."

* * *

><p>I've pretty much got the chapters from this point to the end planned out, so pretty freaking ready.<p> 


	23. Chapter 23 The Conversion

We are approaching the end.

Next is the climax, my loyal friends.

* * *

><p>As she and River stalked up to the TARDIS from behind the stone wall hiding it from the parking lot, Rose made to reach for the door. "Wait," River said suddenly, and her voice was so urgent that she stopped dead in her tracks.<p>

"What?" her voice had dropped to a hushed whisper and she wasn't completely certain why.

"Do you feel that?" River was hunched over slightly, arms held out almost instinctively at her sides, as though stalking prey. "It's like a chill. Like something's gone wrong." Her eyes flicked up. "Look at the windows. The TARDIS lights have gone out."

Rose took a step back – she hadn't even noticed. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," her voice was soft and hissing, like a dagger coming out of its sheathe.

She hovered, one step in front of River, all trembly and uncertain. "Should we go in? What if someone needs us?"

"I'm thinking the same thing, but I don't like it. It feels like a trap."

"It does," Rose agreed grimly. She turned her head, scanning the area, looking for anything out of place. The parts of the parking lot that she could see betrayed no signs of danger. Everything was quiet but for a light, stirring wind.

"Shh," River said, even though Rose wasn't talking. "Do you hear that?"

She did. It was a soft, metallic whirring noise, coming their way. About to turn the corner.

River went to reach for her gun, but of course there was nothing to grab because she was in Rose's body. Rose grabbed the gun herself, fumbling with the holster, but before she could throw it her way, the thing had turned the corner and the danger had passed. "Donna, you scared us!" she yelped, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be River.

"Oh, sorry," her eyestalk adjusted, watching them. She seemed strangely unresponsive. "What are you two doing out here?"

"More importantly, where have you been?" River said, narrowing her eyes.

"Long story. I'd rather not talk about it." She paused. "Can we go inside?"

Rose and River exchanged glances. "I don't think we should," Rose said, shifting on the balls of her feet. "The lights are out and we think it might be a trap."

"Lovely," she growled. "Do you know who's in there?"

Rose's heart skipped a beat – the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. If it really was a trap, then who was stuck deep within, scared and maybe alone? What could have caused the machine to go black? Could they have somehow been betrayed?

"We've been gone for awhile," River explained. "We've no idea who's been where or what's going on."

"Hmm," Donna began turning in an erratic, looping circle. "Well, we've got to do something. We can't just sit here like we're brainless."

"I know," River agreed. Rose could see the feverish panic in her eyes, the fierce, violent need to do something; to take action. She could feel it too, although perhaps not as strong: her muscles quivered, her mind ached with the feeling of helplessness, of being to no use.

"Perhaps we can call for people?" she tried. "Maybe they'd be able to hear us from inside."

"I don't know," River said, expression pained. "The TARDIS... well, I've never seen this happen before, but it seems like it's dead."

"How do you mean?" Donna had stopped her circle.

"I've read about it a bit. The Doctor's shown me manuals and things relating to TARDISes. The machine, in essence, is alive. It has a consciousness of sorts, and can act independently. If the consciousness were to malfunction, or leave, or shut down in any way, the machine would die. Sort of. It's still alive, but... dormant. It can't stay awake on its own."

Rose shifted uncomfortably. _You know you're supposed to be pretending to be me right now, right?_ She thought to River.

_Yes, but..._ She sensed unease, almost even confusion, from the other girl. _It's like a sixth sense. I get this feeling that it doesn't even matter anymore, Rose._

She didn't say anything – aloud or otherwise – in reply, but tentatively reached out with her mind and in return got a sense of River's feelings about the whole situation, and even a taste of this instinctive sense she spoke of. She could see it from her view. With that, they pulled their minds away from each other once again.

"Weird," Donna said. She didn't comment on the fact that "Rose" knew so much about this sort of thing. "So you suppose the TARDIS has malfunctioned somehow?"

"It's likely," River said. "Or at least the only answer I can think of. That... or something might have infiltrated the consciousness."

"Like a disease?" Rose suggested.

"A virus," Donna mused. She was quiet for a moment, then took up to her circling once again.

Just then, Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, and a very irritable-looking Donna turned the corner, out of breath from running. "Donna?" Martha gasped. "You're okay! What happened?"

"Long story," she grunted, not bothering to add anything else.

"Sarah? Jack?" Rose yelped, genuinely – and pleasantly – surprised. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hi Rose," Sarah Jane said. Jack said nothing, but gave her a small wave.

"They insisted on coming," Martha grumbled, shoving Donna's body towards Jack and walking up to the TARDIS. She raised her head, giving the machine a critical glance, taking in the dark, empty windows. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, almost nervously

"Martha, don't," River warned. "The TARDIS is dead, we don't know what's going on."

"I do," she said, refraining from going too far into detail. "The Doctor called me. He, Rory, and... Amy are inside. They want my help."

"What for?" Donna wondered.

"I don't know, but I've got to go in," She bravely stalked towards the door and placed her hand on it, ready to push it open.

"Wait!" Sarah Jane stepped forward. "Let m-"

"No," she sighed, leaning against the door to face them. She looked shaky, almost even a bit afraid. "I can handle this." In Rose's opinion, she didn't look ready to handle anything, but that wasn't going to stop her. Martha Jones pushed open the door and fell backwards into the darkness. It clicked crisply shut behind her.

"The Doctor's in there," Rose blurted, unable to stop herself. She couldn't think of a time before now where she was afraid for someone in the TARDIS – especially him.

"They could be in great danger," Jack said. He sounded more thoughtful, more worried than normal.

"That helps _not at all_, Jack," Donna growled shortly.

"Wonder why she hesitated when she said 'Amy'," River said, thinking aloud. She had both hands crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed, glaring at the TARDIS.

"I'm wondering a lot of things about this," Sarah Jane said flatly. She was scanning the area, similar to the way Rose had earlier.

"What if they need our help?" Jack questioned. "It might be best if we took the risk and went in."

Rose felt twitchy and nervous, unable to think about anything but the Doctor. Was he okay? Hurt? What if Jack was right, and they really did need help? Why would be have chosen only Martha? Could the call have been a fake? Could someone have forced him to do it? Why had the TARDIS shut down? There were so many questions, they just wouldn't stop flowing through her head. Hundreds of questions, but no answers. Still, her desperation wasn't enough to override her caution. She knew that they had to stay safe. If everyone in there was really in danger, it would be of no help if they ran in and got caught too. They had to be smart about this – it's what the Doctor would have wanted.

"No, Jack," she said. "We've got to stay here. What if he needs us later? We have to stay where we're guaranteed safety."

"Well, that certainly wouldn't be here then," Donna snapped. Her eyestalk was focused on her own body, controlled by the Dalek, who was slumped in Jack's arms and looking disinterested. "We're sitting ducks here."

"Still sensible to stay put, though," Sarah argued. "It would be stupid to go somewhere where we can't see the TARDIS."

"I wonder why it all ended up here," River mused quietly. "I wonder what's making the TARDIS so important. There's some element at work here that the five of us aren't aware of."

"There's chaos for one," Donna joked, but she didn't put much effort into it.

"I don't like this," she said flatly.

"None of us do," Rose mumbled. "But there's nothing we can do except wait." She swallowed and stared grimly at the empty black pits that were the TARDIS windows. "Right now, it's our only hope."

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><p>It was like entering another world. The door clicked shut behind her, and Martha got the impression that she was in a different universe altogether. No sound came from anywhere. Vague shadows spread from all corners, spurred onward by the weak trickle of light coming in through the windows. She thought she could see the hulking form of the console, but there was no way to be certain. Everything was black, silent dust.<p>

"Doctor?" She hissed, bottom lip quavering. For all she knew, the beasts of her nightmares could be hulking over her, smiling serenely, waiting to part their scaled mouths and shove their glittering fangs through her chest.

No answer came. After several long seconds, she called out again, louder. "Doctor? Hello? Is anyone here?"

Silence. The shadows seemed to wrap around her legs, gripping them tightly, engulfing her in cool, creamy blackness. She strained her eyes, praying they would adjust, but at the same time wishing they would stay the way they were. What if their really _was_ a slathering beast hovering over her shoulder? Was that someone breathing down her neck? What was that sudden heat in she felt burning in her toes?

"Martha!" She yelped and slammed her body against the door. The Doctor's pale green eyes loomed at her from out of the black. "Glad you could make it!"

"Doctor," she half-screeched, voice raw with fear. "Don't do that, I'm bloody terrified over here!"

His eyes narrowed – she couldn't tell whether he was being serious now or not. "Well then, we better fix that. I'm under the impression you have a crystal in your bag?"

"I..." she blinked. "How did you know? I only got it about an hour and a half ago, on my way to Sarah Jane's house."

"Nevermind that, just bring it here! It should lighten up the place."

She reached into a side pocket of her bag, put on the glove within it, and then removed the crystal. Instantly, Martha could see. It lit up the room with an eerie, soft purple glow. The Doctor was standing in front of her, beaming, his hair a shock of colors and his eyes malevolent under the light. Rory was farther back, leaning dejectedly on the console, head down. Amy's body (who was, as far as Martha could understand, currently being controlled by the TARDIS) was half-hidden on the other side of the console, watching and beaming at her with wide eyes, even more creepily illuminated than the Doctor's.

"Glad you're here, Martha," The Doctor beamed. "Because we have a problem. Amy isn't near as strong enough to keep the TARDIS awake, and without it awake, her body isn't in contact with enough huon energy to keep Idris alive. So if we don't act fast, they'll both be dead. Luckily, I have a plan," he leaned forward, directly into the light of the crystal, and dark circles of shadow surrounded his eyes, making him out to be ghostly, and increasing the ancient, powerful look in his gaze. "But you're not going to like it."

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><p>Eep. I'm so excited, you don't even know.<p> 


	24. Chapter 24 Chaos Rising

I actually didn't have any time to proofread this chapter. I hope it turned out alright.

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><p>He rotated the crystal in a gloved hand, eyes narrowed, the purple light bouncing off the walls and bringing Martha's nightmares back from the dead. Arching shadows, like demons with their claws raised, hung poised on the dark ceiling of the TARDIS. Snakes slithered towards her, flashing in and out of view along with the azure light. Gargoyles snapped at the banisters.<p>

No matter what dangers appeared, however, Martha couldn't be afraid. With the Doctor in front of her, fear was for the moment nothing but an illusion, despite the plan he'd just explained. The story wasn't the same for Rory, though. The boy was leaning against the console, eyes wide and face dead-pale, scanning the room as though looking for a glimpse of his wife. Idris, as Martha was coming to know her, was sitting on the ground with her hands in her lap, looking somber. She knew that the unearthly being must be suffering at the moment from the lack of huon energy available to her. They didn't have much time.

"We probably won't get much done until all of the crystal pieces are together again," the Doctor said as he placed the shard gently on top of the console. "And at that point we'll only have a small window of time to get things done. There _is_ good news, though. I _think_ I can reverse back all the people who've been switched at once. When the TARDIS reverses her power on the crystal, the sudden overload should be enough to cancel out everything the crystal's caused. But before then, we're going to have to do things the way Rory and I had, to switch back Amy and Idris, and before _then_, Amy's going to have to wake up. This all rides on Amy."

"I really don't think she can do it," Rory mumbled, staring at the darkened floor.

"She won't have much of a choice," he replied grimly. "When that energy surge reaches her, it'll hammer her system to life, whether she wants it or not."

Martha watched as he picked up the crystal again and rolled it between palm and fingertips. "Alright, let me get this straight. So... so we're going to plug this shard into the TARDIS, and it will start... powering up the machine?"

"No, taking power from it, actually." His gaze drifted to Idris. "But she has enough we're she'll be okay. And when it does that, a sort of link has to be made with the machine, which will cause it to power up, and awaken Amy as well. That's why we have to move quickly, because it works both ways. If we let it, the crystal would easily take over."

"How? What would happen?" she questioned.

"Domination," Idris mumbled, lips barely moving. "It would corrupt the TARDIS, steal its power, and kill us all. All of the universe."

Martha swallowed, unable to suppress a shiver. "And you're willing to risk that, Doctor? All for Amy and Idris?"

He turned to her, eyes sparkling in the low purple lighting. "Do I have much choice? It's this, or waiting. It's this, or let two die, and hope the crystal doesn't take the others." He turned and leaned heavily on the console. "The chaos is already in nearly all of our systems. The longer I wait, the better chance it has of taking us over, of making us its slaves. I've already waited too long. It's time to act."

"It never lasts long, does it Doctor?" Idris looked up, staring at him with haunted eyes. "Our times, our moments. It's never just us, never just peace. It never will be, I believe." She stood very shakily, like a ragdoll. "That's fine. I understand. I know what needs to be done."

The Doctor looked down, directly at the crystal. Its light met him full in the face, and it encompassed him eerily. Martha saw the serene, pained look of longing in his eyes, the temptation written on his face. After several tense seconds, he lowered his hand. "You're not meant to have a body, Idris. This is how it must be. It's for the best." He quietly added to everyone else, "Be prepared," and then pressed the crystal into the opening slot on the console.

The change was not immediate – there were several seconds during which the light from the gem actually seemed to fade. It was almost a full minute later when suddenly the deep purple light coming from it burst to full strength with such intensity that Martha covered her eyes and stepped back, temporarily blinded. Struggling to shield her eyes, she looked over her hand and saw that the crystal had settled further into the console, light beaming from it like an unearthly rainbow. As she narrowed her eyes, straining to see, it appeared for a moment as though it was melting – but then she saw something dark purple was actually growing from it, spreading across the console in a thick, oozing mass.

The Doctor sucked in a breath – he had noticed it too. The mass had split into little separate rivers, dripping across the console and spreading quickly. "Don't touch it," he warned. "It's chaos; it's spreading."

Martha looked up and pointed, stepping back. Near the roof of the TARDIS, more of the deep purple mass had appeared, spreading from within. She looked down and saw what was on the console had grown and gorged itself into thick, writhing purple tendrils that spread and grew with fearful speed. They wrapped themselves around the console, smashing and then denting it, like pythons crushing their prey.

The lights of the TARDIS had come back on, but they were hard to see through the blinding purple. The four of them had met in front of the console, near the steps leading down to the entrance, all of them watching as more of the purple spread and grew, turning into dark, ugly tentacles from another dimension. Dark black holes grew and burst open on them, revealing huge, gaping violet eyes that turned and focused on the group, literal spores upon spores.

Very suddenly the console screen flared to life and was filled with Amy's words. WHATS GOING ON? MY HEAD HURTS. WH76Y IGS THERE PURP6TYLE EVE7RYWH489FHLSAGDH4368 FDLH783HF708D 370F F73F DR77AK3GAT7H AHFL...

"Wh-What's going on?" Rory asked. He was hovering near Idris, as though relieved by her presence, even though she wasn't his real wife, and glaring up at the screen as though it was going to destroy him.

"It's feeding off of the TARDIS' power," the Doctor said, voice calm, if a bit shaky. "And... corrupting Amy. I don't think we'll find a better time to pull it off, Idris."

He made to reach for the console, but she placed her hand on his. He looked down at her, frowning slightly. Her eyes, despite being in Amy's body, reflected back all the power she owned, empty and void-like, two shining windows into an endless soul. "That's okay," she said softly, then leaned forward and kissed him.

Rory nearly yelped, for obvious reasons, but instead looked down and waited for the moment to pass, eyes closed. When she pulled away, her sentence continued as though nothing had happened: "-I can handle this one one my own."

She stepped back, towards the marred console, and placed her hand very gingerly on the crystal – it flared with power, engorged by the time vortex, but suddenly seemed to dim as Idris raised her arms, tossed her head back, and breathed in sharply. Showers of gold and purple dust – the same thing Martha had seen pass from the Doctor's lips, but darker – burst from her mouth and spun all about the console, its light competing with the chaos. As the two raged their war, Amy's body began to dim and gray, as though tinted with death, but suddenly she fell forward and gasped, filled with her proper owner once again. Rory only barely lunged forward and caught her.

The gold had disappeared into the TARDIS. For a moment it seemed as though Idris had shut down the chaos, but it flared once again, tendrils leaping forward and gripping the guard rails, crushing them like toothpicks. "Stay away from it!" the Doctor yelled. "You've got no chance if it touches you!"

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><p>Rose could see the fear in River's eyes. The windows to the TARDIS had been filled with a piercing purple light that shown out onto the ground in front of them like powerful, deadly beacons. The TARDIS was still its normal blue color, but it seemed to have gone darker, as though weakening somehow. She wanted to say something – anything, really, to try and help everyone else, and herself, but her words were suddenly shut down as a huge, pressing pain filled her head.<p>

Out of the corner of her eye, as her body was flung forward, she saw River falling too. The two met eyes, and electricity rampaged through them without control. When Rose felt strong enough to open her eyes again, she was seeing things from River's point of view – or rather, her own. She'd been switched back again. She raised her head and saw the other woman undergoing the same realization – they were themselves again. After a long second, they turned to see, in the hands of a very dazed-looking Jack, Donna screaming, "Down, everyone! The Dalek's back in it's body!"

They all ducked instinctively, fear a wild animal in their hearts, but they turned and saw it didn't matter – the Dalek had disappeared. Sarah Jane shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "That was-" she shot a glance at Jack. "Did anyone else feel that?"

Despite themselves, River and Rose nodded. Donna pulled herself away from Jack, looking shaken. "I've switched back. I wonder what happened...?"

They all instinctively raised their eyes to the TARDIS, all blue and purple and fire and rage.

Very suddenly, it whirred, but in a broken way, stuttering slightly, as though broken. Despite this, it still began to disappear, fading in and out of view and then pulsing out of existence altogether. "No!" Rose ran forward, but she was too late. The machine disappeared long before she reached where it had been.

"What happened?" Jack asked, eyes narrowed. He'd stepped forward as well.

Rose stopped, stunned, staring at the place where the time machine had once been. It was gone now, like a dream, along with everyone inside. What had happened to make it disappear? Why had everyone switched back? Would she ever get her answers?

Would she ever see the Doctor again?

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><p>"It won't stop!" The Doctor yelled. "Everything's worked out, but it won't stop! I can't control the chaos, and neither can Idris!"<p>

Although Martha had been paranoid, seeing malevolent faces in the shadows, she now had real demons to deal with. The chaotic tentacles reached for them, seducing them, desperate for the touch of their skin and the chance to destroy them. She didn't know what to do.

Rory had Amy passed out in his arms, and was looking terrified. "Doctor, look at her! Look at her eyes! They're all dark and swollen and purple! What do I do?"

He turned, and looked unbelievably helpless. "Just hold her, Rory! There's nothing you can do!"

Turning, she saw the crystal, in the middle of the console, was growing at an alarming rate. Shooting a questioning look at the panicked Doctor, he said, "It's stealing the TARDIS' energy!"

Suddenly the TARDIS began whirring, albeit brokenly. The Doctor's eyes dawned with realization. "The TARDIS is taking us into space! I know what to do!" He turned to her, suddenly grim. "Martha, I suggest you take my advice and never, _ever_, do any of the stupid things that I do, especially this."

He reached forward with his gloved hand and yanked the crystal from its place. The chaos instantaneously lunged from every place where it sat and engulfed the Doctor in violent, poison purple. He staggered back, seemingly on purpose, and fell through the doors. The TARDIS trembled. Martha, having already fallen to her knees, was flung across the floor without control. She fell against the open door, hitting her head and passing out, one hand very neatly falling out of the open threshold and floating alone in empty space.

Time trembled as well. Space hissed with power, and the very fabric of existence rocked with the shock of what had just taken place.

Silence reined.

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><p>Hmmph. :D I'll draw whatever picture is requested for the first person who can guess where I got my chaos inspiration from.<p> 


	25. Chapter 25 Sun Rising

Buuuurrrrn.

So much pleasure in this chapter. So much satisfaction. I'd daresay I'm happy with it.

What do you guys think?

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><p>Small specks of light purple dust floated around them, catching the glimmer of stars and sparkling, dancing like the remains of a fire, yet softer, and somehow more beautiful, despite the danger it had caused. The crystal itself, having grown from the power of the TARDIS, sat, suspended in space, like a puppet without strings. It was now roughly the size of a house. The object, once thick and dark violet, had lightened and grown thin, so much so that you could see space, empty and very real, by looking through it.<p>

Martha sat at the edge, legs dangling over into empty space, her mind blank as she tempted fate. The Doctor stood above her, hands in pockets, watching the hovering specks. She daren't look around, afraid of being reminded of his past regeneration, simply because of the pose he was in.

Both of them seemed afraid to break the silence, but of course in the end she had to. There were too many questions. "What happened, exactly?"

"I let it win," he said. "Sort of. Well, it got what it wanted, which was more power. It was growing far too quickly, and if it stayed there it probably would have broken through the TARDIS' matrix and caused an explosion. I had to take it away from the power source, as well as give it space to grow."

"But what happened?" she frowned. "It was like it swallowed you… and then you fell out the door…"

He was quiet for a second too long. "Fate, Martha," he sighed. "I tempted fate, and... I got lucky. There was no back-up plan, no hope for survival. Not this time. I just got lucky." He lifted one hand from his pocket – his left, closest to Martha – and lowered it so it hovered nearby her face. She looked, and suppressed a gasp: The veins across his wrist and palm were bulging and dyed a sickly purple, the hand around them looking deathly pale.

"It might go away with my next regeneration, I don't know," he frowned, relinquishing his hand, still not looking at her. "I didn't really know anything about this chaos. I still don't, not really."

She stared at her lap, thoughts clashing with one another and making no discernible sense. "So... so the crystal we'd plugged into the TARDIS... sort of teleported, or summoned the other shards, and they combined, and then..."

"And then fed off of the machine's energy, and turned into this," he lightly tapped one foot on the hulking crystal beneath them: it made a light tinkling noise, like falling glass.

She decided against delving deeper into what _exactly_ had happened to him; it didn't matter now, and it wasn't her right to make him say such things, especially if he didn't want to. "Are you sure it's alright to have Rory and Amy in there while the TARDIS is repairing itself?"

He shrugged, looking down. "It doesn't matter. Idris will make sure they're okay."

"Rory said there was something wrong with Amy's eyes-"

"It should be gone now," he added nothing more.

He still refused to meet her eyes, and she looked away, out into space. She'd been with the Doctor enough to understand that the TARDIS behind them was keeping the airless vortex from sucking away her life, but it didn't keep the view from being any less unnerving. The stars seemed close enough to touch. "So what will happen to this thing?"

"Well, it's trapped in the Earth's orbit," he replied. "And at the moment, it's been put into a sort of hibernation, from power overload – that's why you can touch it right now – so it can't do anything too threatening. Fairly soon, your planet will become aware of other lifeforms in space, and it pains me to say, but you'll enter a period of war and fear. During that time, you'd shoot anything even near your planet – including this. And if that doesn't work out, well... I'll always be around."

He said it all very matter-of-a-factly, with little emotion. Martha frowned, watching him, despite the fact that he wouldn't look at her. He was staring at the huge blue planet beneath them. "Will you, Doctor? Will you always be around?"

His expression didn't change, but his eyes twitched towards his left hand before centering back onto space. "I don't know, Martha. But I'll try."

She looked away, and they were both silent. For awhile, there was nothing but the stars, and the silent falling of the purple specks, like snow. She stared at her legs, dangling beneath her, with nothing to hold them, but was incapable of fear.

It could have been hours later, but there came a moment when the Doctor silently whispered, "Look." And she did.

Straddling the edge of the Earth, just barely in view and gradually becoming more noticeable, was a thin line of glimmering orange light. It spread like a beacon; gold shimmered on the edge of the continents, encasing them in an almost unnatural light. It spread as far as it could reach across the glorious blue planet. Light danced in the seas; specks of clouds suddenly seemed to glow. The light almost eclipsed the planet at several points, causing spots to dance in Martha's entranced eyes. Shivers raced up and down her spine as the light burst forth and showed its true strength; its true power.

"Good morning, Britain," The Doctor said softly.

She stared in awe, between both him and the majestic sight. It was becoming harder to watch – the sun was, after all, the _sun_. "Danger is everywhere," he shot the crystal beneath him a glance. "But so is beauty."

She looked down at her lap, her own hands even shining slightly from the sun's blinding rays, and to her surprise he spoke again.

As unofficial records go, River may hold the one for having seen the most of the TARDIS, but Martha held the honor of having heard most about Gallifrey. Thus far, she'd heard about it with Jack during the year that never was, listened to him talk about it once in the console room, with a faraway expression, years ago, and here, now. Who knows if she will hear of it again.

"On Gallifrey, there's-_was_, a little field, about a mile from the Citadel of the Timelords. When we were children, we'd get up as soon as we could and run out to the field and try to find the spot. There was a spot out there, where if you stood on it, the sun would be positioned exactly above the tall spire as it rose, so that it would look like the entire city was on fire. And it would catch the light of the globe that surrounded it, and make the entire field dance with every color imaginable – even a few your race doesn't have. An entire, personal light show – but only if you could find the spot." He was quiet for a moment. "I found it, once. Me and the other kids, we made a pact that if any of us ever found it, we'd tell the others immediately. But I couldn't. I was too awed, too inspired, too stunned to speak. It was almost frightening, to be honest. Afterward, I was too ashamed to tell the others, and too guilty to go and try to find it again. I didn't really want to go back, either. It changed me, after I saw it."

His eyes wandered across the galaxy. "It's strange to think that everyday your world is greeted by a deadly thing that could destroy it... but somehow keeps it alive. It was the same story for mine.

"I do wish, now, that I could go back there, and see that powerful sunrise again. I took it for granted, I think. Don't do that, Martha. Don't take this in front of you for granted."

She watched the sun rise, eyes burning with the powerful light coming from it, struggling with the Doctor's words. But he wasn't done yet.

"I knew, Martha. I knew about Rose and River, and Jack and Sarah Jane. I knew the whole time."

She blinked and looked up at him, stunned. "But how?"

He smiled slightly, still not looking at her, but for the moment seemed almost happy, or at least serene. "I had my suspicions from the very beginning, with Jack and Sarah Jane. I figured it out when you said that Jack had found a crystal – one thing I might have learned about this chaos was that it's attracted to its victims. The clues, if subtle, just kept showing themselves from then on. When it comes to Rose and River, well..." his smile was wiped away, and Martha's heart inexplicably skipped a beat. "Well, let's just say I know them better than anyone else. I do love them, after all."

She remembered a time when she had once fallen madly for him. It was gone now, but lingered, like a scar that never healed. Somehow, though, in that moment, it didn't hurt her. She understood.

He laughed once, very softly.

"Donna always told me about how useless she was, about how she wasn't worth my time, about how she didn't understand why I'd chosen her. Looking back on it now, there were things I missed, in my grief for Rose. You were the same way, Martha. You had no confidence, but..." his face screwed up for a moment, almost angrily. "But there were things you didn't notice, too. Rose, I always so happy with her. I always felt like she could handle herself, and figure it out, and I wouldn't have to be afraid for her life. Donna was just fun. I never knew what to expect from her, and I _loved_ that. Amy and Rory? Well, I was almost wary of them. I felt like I was unleashing a storm wherever I took them.

"But you, Martha. You were the one I had pride in. To be honest, when I first met you, I didn't truly believe you would have the strength or bravery for the places I could take you. But every time – every single time – you would impress me, again and again. When I introduced you to others, it was with pride. I said your name with relish. I almost even respected you."

Now, and only now, did he look at her.

"You never noticed. And I never really noticed you."

They stared at each other in silence for an eternity. When she finally did speak, it felt like years had passed, just sitting on the crystal with the sun and the TARDIS watching them. "I suppose we should head back."

"Yes," he said. It was like nothing had happened, and that almost infuriated Martha, but not quite. "The TARDIS should have repaired by now – and I'd figure Amy and Rory have woken up."

As she stood, he turned and began walking back. Watching him, strolling there with his hands in his pockets and the sun making him only half-visible, if Martha squinted, she could see his tenth regeneration, a shadow of the other. Two counterparts, two different worlds, two different men, walking the same path. The same life.

Head dizzy, not quite sure she understood everything she'd been told, Martha turned and followed the alien back to his phone booth.


	26. Chapter 26 Temptation

Errnngh. I'm tired.

Alright, so I failed yesterday, sorry about that. I wasn't really sure how to start this one, so I took that as an excuse to stay up until one a.m. talking to my friend on webcam and ignoring my responsibilities. But, here's your words, so MEH.

Also, there're only about three chapters left after this one - not to crush you or anything.

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><p>Leaves danced on feathers of wind, sweeping across Amy's vision like little birds: it was the heart of autumn. She could see piles of leaves clogging the gutter on her roof; a cool wind swept around the porch and she could see a thin, delicate spider's web nestled in the corner of one window. In a sense, it was like the home had missed her – and she'd missed it to, to an extent. It was their gift from the Doctor.<p>

She warily let her eyes travel up to him. He was next to her, leaning against the TARDIS, parked across the street from the house. Her thoughts seem to smash against the wall of her mind, never fully reaching any sort of a conclusion. She recalled the final moments her consciousness had recorded whilst she was the TARDIS: being forced awake, a sudden shot of energy, power, and adrenaline going through her, and then watching as her vast view of everything was slowly swallowed in a thick, poison purple cloud. She remembered being afraid, and confused, and utterly unable to think, and then hearing a deadly, beautiful, soft voice cooing her gently. It too seemed confused for a moment, inspecting her and the realm she existed in, and then gently murmuring, "I could use you. Yes, you work work well... What do you think of this power you feel, girl? Would you like to feel more?"

That was when everything went black.

The Doctor had explained to her what he had done, yes, but if one thing was perfectly clear in Amy's mind, it was that chaos was not dead. It still existed – perhaps not here, at least, but undoubtedly in the Universe it had come from. And it was strong, oh-so strong. She just hoped that whoever existed in that realm would be able to keep it under control.

The Doctor was quiet. Amy knew it was time they went home – the reason for having been with him was taken care of. But once again, she had tasted the sweet freedom, the unstoppable wildness of traveling with him, and it baited her like no other. She didn't want to leave. Of course she didn't.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?" His reply was immediate, and leveled, as though he'd been waiting for an eternity to say it.

"What... What will you do now?"

He gave her a wry look and shrugged. "What I always do. I'll run about the Universe and see what trouble I get into."

"I miss that," she consented, looking down. "I miss when Rory and I did that with you. That was nice."

He shook his head, expression bittersweet. "I'm not traveling with companions at the moment. No more of that, I think. You saw how much danger it used to put you in – you saw how much danger it put you in now. I'm not letting you or Rory get hurt again."

"But that was the fun," she risked. "That wild, that adrenaline. That excitement that I always experienced with you."

"And look at you now," he replied. "You're infatuated with it; a true addict. Desperate for it, yearning for a taste of the adventure I supplied. That was what I did to people. No more."

She knew she wouldn't win this argument, but it had to be said. "When you died, Doctor... I died too, in a sense. I felt like I'd lost part of myself. It was the same thing when you left us here, at this house, it was the same thing. I can't go through that again. I can't do it."

He smiled, very sadly.

"Nothing can last forever, Amy. Do you understand... I've seen just about every planet in this universe, and at least know about the others. The wonder died for me long ago – I'm just going through the motions now. And someday it will for you as well. Nothing can last forever, not even me. Not even the things I brought you. But cherish the memories, at the very least. I know you want to see more of the universe, but you can't. It's time to stop. It's time to settle down and remember the good times – before they have a chance to turn sour."

She bit her lip, silently disagreeing and finding a thousand arguments as to why, but told herself to stop. Today was not her day to get what she wanted.

"Until next time, then?"

He turned, and smiled again, but this one was warm and genuine. His expression was almost serene. "We'll see, won't we Pond?"

"We'll see it all," she whispered sadly, and quietly strolled towards the front door.

Rory pushed open the door when he knew she was walking away, and peeked out to see the Doctor looking at him. He stepped out shakily, shutting the door carefully closed behind him.

The Doctor looked away, making a slight face. He seemed more perturbed than angry, almost a bit unsettled. "You understand why I do what I do now, don't you Rory?"

He swallowed. "Yeah. Doesn't change the fact that she'll be crying in the bathroom all night tonight, sobbing into the towels in hopes that I don't hear."

"But that's what I do," the Timelord said, and Rory heard a powerful tinge of emotion in his usually bright voice. "I crush people. I ruin them the moment I say 'hi.' Even if they don't know me well, they spend forever thinking, 'I wonder whatever happened to that strange chap, the one in the bowtie. I can't help but think there was something special about him.' My very presence breaks the soul of mankind."

He said it all quite bluntly, and Rory felt himself nodding. "I wish I could have gotten her away faster," he heard an angry tinge in his voice. "You destroyed my wife. I'll never forgive you for that."

He laughed without humor. "And yet you two would never have been married without me." He shook his head. "I never loved her, if that's what you think. And her eyes are for you, Rory. Not me. But I poisoned her. She wants the power of time and space once again, and that will never change. You were different Rory, and I sort of liked that. You were never effected by the things I could offer. Your only goal was to protect your love."

"It still is," he sighed heavily. "At least you had the strength to say no to her, just then."

The Timelord smiled, but it was a raw expression, without any emotion. "Let's agree to be enemies, shall we Mr. Pond? I think it's about time."

He swallowed and then nodded. "We'll agree to disagree."

"On everything – even if you did get the chance to see it all from my point of view."

Hands going to his pockets, Rory Pond began walking towards his much-loved house. "Try not to get yourself killed."

"If you insist," the Doctor replied quietly.

* * *

><p>Jack sat on the crumbling stone wall overlooking the parking lot, watching the Doctor as he was hounded by his past companions, desperate for answers on what had happened. He himself didn't have much interest in it – he was himself again. Problem solved. The TARDIS had materialized a few minutes ago and was sitting very demurely on the hard cement, almost mocking him with its power.<p>

Being so engrossed in his thoughts, Jack didn't hear Martha come up behind him. "Hello, captain," she said. "Glad to see you're yourself again."

He looked at her, motioned for her to sit, and said, "Me too. Nothing better than being the invincible Alien Hunter once again."

"I noticed you were missing when we arrived," she said. "What are you doing, hiding up here?"

He was quiet for a long time, staring through hazy vision at the scene below them. The wind stirred the bottom of his trenchcoat, which he'd noticed was burnt, but didn't really care much. He almost didn't want to know what Sarah Jane had gotten into. Finally he muttered, "He's changed, hasn't he? The Doctor. I can see it from here."

"Yeah," Martha said gently. "Real crazy one now. Easily excited."

Jack smiled, curiosity pricking at him fiercely. "You should go say hi," Martha ventured.

He shook his head almost immediately, expression forlorn. "This'll sound crazy Martha, but I get this feeling, this sense sort of, that it's not time for me to meet this regeneration yet. It's not the right time. I need to wait. And anyway... well, look at him. He's got enough on his hands at the moment."

"He won't be upset, if that's what you're worried about. I don't think he'd mind at all, really. This regeneration's rather nice, to be honest."

"No," he said firmly, although the bait was beyond tempting. "Let fate take it's course. Meanwhile, I'll go back to Torchwood."

She seemed like she might protest, but then nodded. "Good luck, Jack. Stay safe."

He grinned wryly, standing up. "Tell Rose I said hey, alright? And be careful, Martha. Be sure to drop by some time." Captain Jack Harkness passed her a crazed wink, and then stepped away, out into the mist and wind. He never looked back.


	27. Chapter 27 Once Again

Phew, that was scary. I almsot thought I wouldn't get this one up - FanFiction wouldn't let me log in.

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><p>It was a bit surreal for Donna: she knew she had to say it; it was what she wanted, but this was something she'd never expect to pass her lips. "Doctor, I'm ready to go home."<p>

And despite it all, she was. There was no doubt there. She'd seen so much, trapped in the Dalek's body, and been through a lot too. She'd had moments of utter failure and hatred, her own miniature darkest hours. The crystal was done with. She was tired. Yes, yes, it was time to go home.

But as she stepped out of the TARDIS and saw her mother's house, sitting demurely and waiting for her as though nothing had happened, she felt a twang of regret. Any sane person would think her mad for walking away from the offer of all of time and space. But she had, already, not long ago. And she would have to do it again – to protect her memories at the very least.

But no, she knew it had extended by now to be beyond that simple reason. Her time with him was done. And it had been a great time, no argument there... but it was gone now. She had to accept that.

She had some questions first, though.

"Doctor, when I disappeared," she swallowed. "I'd gotten kidnapped. By orphans." it sounded silly to say, but Donna was serious. "And... and they got into a fight, and ultimately that was what got me free. But now I'm upset, because I couldn't help them."

She would have gone on, but he shook his head, smiling slightly. "You worry too much, Donna. Look at today. It's bright; it's good. Don't blight it. I have a feeling they'll be alright."

The answer left her restless, it felt so incomplete. But at the same time, she knew the Doctor's ways, and had a strong, inner instinct that told her he would – or rather had, taken care of it. "Alright then. Oi! Doctor, I almost forgot... the Dalek, it disappeared, I don't know where..."

"It's alright Donna," he said, and seemed sincere. "I've got it covered."

"You always do, don't you?"

He frowned. "No. No, I don't, and never think that. But I can handle this."

She nodded, sensing some turbulence in him, and not wanting to push anything. "Well, I suppose I'll be off then."

The Doctor looked at her, and seemed at the very least happy. "You be careful, Donna. You can get a bit reckless."

"Me? Reckless?" she choked, laughing weakly. "I think you should be telling yourself that!"

His expression was enough of an answer. "Goodbye, Donna."

"See you around, Doctor," with that, Donna Noble slipped open the back gate of her mother's house and disappeared.

* * *

><p>When the TARDIS reappeared, Sarah Jane took the liberty to slip inside, finding the Doctor leaning against the console, looking a tad melancholy. She straightened, quietly closing the door behind her, and said, "Did you just take Donna home?"<p>

He looked up at her and beamed, making her stomach twist – she truly had missed him. "Yes, and she's alright. How are you, Ms. Smith? It's been quite a while, I'd say."

"I'm..." she hesitated for half a second too long. "I'm alright, Doctor."

"No you're not," he said bluntly. His smile was still there, but it was more of a shadow than the original. "Something happened. What was it?"

"I..." her words twisted in her mouth, and she suddenly felt guilty for having even come in here. She knew what she had to say, but couldn't bring herself to it. It had almost reached the point of being an old wound, and she'd almost even convinced herself to not trouble him with it. But now, it was too late. "Doctor, the crystal, Jack and I-"

"Were switched, I know," he said. He'd begun pacing, wandering about the console almost aimlessly.

"Yes," Deciding it not worth her effort to find out how he'd discovered this, she tried to swallow, but found that her throat had tightened up. She could hardly speak the next words. "When I was him, I died."

He was on the other side of the console, and as she spoke this he stopped and looked up. There was nothing but pure care and concentrated alarm in his gaze. He was worried for her; almost even afraid.

Now that she'd managed that, the words flowed a bit easier. "There was an explosion, at an old mill we'd investigated. It's a long story, but... But there was the fire, and then..."

She might have blacked out for a second, Sarah Jane wasn't sure. However, the Doctor had somehow crossed the console room and was at her side, hands gripping her by the shoulders. "I'm sorry that that had to happen, Sarah."

"No that's not..." she shook her head, thoughts unorganized. "Doctor, I was alone. There was no one to understand that. There was no one to understand that I'd... Even I didn't understand it..." she squeezed her eyes shut and asked, almost not of her own accord, "What's it like when you regenerate?"

His grip loosened slightly, and for a long moment the only noise was the gentle pulse of the TARDIS. "Do you really want to know?"

She paused. "Doctor, I can't go to Jack. You're the only person I can even slightly relate this to. I... I have to understand."

He leaned against the guard rail, and she did too, very close to him. He wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's not the same as what Jack has. It's like watching, hearing, feeling yourself die, but you're not yourself anymore. You're becoming someone else, and at the same time seeing that other creature that was once you lose its existence. And for a while, yes, it's nothing but the black, and the darkness, and the empty blankness of death. And then you're alive again."

She thought he might keep going, just by his expression, but instead he said, in exactly the way that made her whole mind and body twist upside down, "You're the only person I've ever told that to."

She pushed, despite herself. "And you... you just live on, despite having gone through that?"

"Yes. I have to."

"And I'm expected to do that too, now?" her tone was despairing.

He looked at her, and she saw fear in his eyes. "No, Sarah Jane. You can do whatever you want to with that knowledge. You can live on, or let it drive you mad, or never do a single thing again. But do you really think, after having seen that, that anyone would be able to willingly turn towards death?" He stood, walking over and leaning heavily against the console. "That's the curse of the Timelords. And it's your curse now, as well."

"Take me home," she said. It wasn't a demand, or at all upset in any way. It was just a thing to say.

He nodded – that was it. That was all the two of them needed. She'd known him for so long now, seen so many of his different faces... They understood each other, to an extent. Even moreso, after this.

The TARDIS seemed almost seductive in that moment; more alive than normal. The gentle, rhythmic sound of the breaks, the cool, soft halt as it landed. In that moment she wanted to stay, mainly out of fear. She didn't want to face her life again, not after what had happened. But she missed Clyde and Rani, almost as much as she missed the Doctor, and she knew that they needed her. The adventure was over once again, and it was time to put it behind her as best she could.

She opened the door and saw Number 13 Bannerman Road. She opened the door and saw her life, hunting aliens and protecting humanity, and knew it would never be the same again. She opened the door and was afraid of what was outside, and found she couldn't recognize it or be as happy with it as she had been before. She opened the door and saw her little yellow car, blissful and simple, yet so distant, sitting in the driveway. She opened the door and hoped Clyde and Rani weren't too worried about her. She opened the door and missed Luke. She opened the door and remembered every second she'd spent with the Doctor, seeing the fantastic beauty of the Universe, feeling as though she was important and changing the world, feeling like a huge, useful person instead of just a journalist. She opened the door thought about how much she loved him; her best friend. She opened the door and wondered if she would ever feel like herself again.

She opened the door and wished she could close it.

"Will we see each other again, Doctor?"

"Yes," he said. There was no hesitation. To him – to both of them, really, at this point – it was just a simple fact. "Maybe not like this, not this body. But yes."

She turned, feeling as sad and great and even as wise as the dark, fathomless deeps of the oceans. Of the dark, fathomless deeps of the Universe. "Be careful. Don't change again, please. It's always harder to find you – to know you're there – when you do."

His expression rivaled hers in its power and beat it. "No promises."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, my Sarah Jane."

Sarah Jane Smith got her wish – the door closed. But she was on the other side.

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><p>I feel really great about this chapter. Sarah Jane is just so great.<p> 


	28. Chapter 28 Home

My GOD, this chapter gave me hell every step of the way. I barely managed to get it over 1000 words. Sorry about that.

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><p>Are you going to be alright, Doctor?" Rose asked as she stepped outside of the TARDIS. A cool wind stirred the long stalks of weeds in the little park by her flat. The sun was out in a cloudless sky, shining brightly and making the dewdrops on the thick grass sparkle. Strangely enough, there was no desperate yearning begging her to stay with the machine. Her only fears were with the Doctor – he seemed so distant, so broken at this point. She wondered why.<p>

"More or less, Rose." His tone was level, words bordering on careless.

Around the corner, less than a block away, she could see a young boy on his bike, delivering mail. A little brown dog was inspecting the shrubs in his yard. She noticed that one of the trees in her landlord's yard was wilting. She stepped back from the normal, almost-but-not-quite comforting confines of Earth to stand closer to the alien and his machine. Her instincts were trembling and burning like livewires; deep in her soul she knew something was wrong. "I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't," he nodded, treating it as a fact. "But don't worry about me, Rose. If you knew everything, you'd never stop worrying. You don't need that. Go; be free. Go be Rose and change the world."

She blinked at him, hesitating for a second, and then stepped back. Such a simple movement, and yet it was like severing a cord to the rest of the Universe. "Well, alright then. I... I suppose I'll go. There's not much to say."

He frowned and looked in the other direction. "Well, there's always something to say. Maybe not now, but there is."

He seemed to be baiting her and she paused, having already wandered further away. "Please, tell me what's wrong," She knew he was off, it was apparent on his features, but she wasn't sure how to approach it. "You don't seem right."

"You just inspire me is all, Rose. You're tougher than I am. You've been through a lot. You inspire me to keep this Universe safe." he was quiet for a moment. "I didn't think I'd win this one, to be honest. But I'm glad I did. All of you are worth it."

She managed a smile, still dazed by him, even after all this time. "Well, thanks then. I'll be seeing you around, I suppose."

"Stay in touch," he said, slipping back into the TARDIS. She wasn't sure how to translate such a comment, but it almost didn't matter. She could barely figure out half the things he said anyways. Turning, she walked slowly away, thoughts spinning, but in a nice, almost friendly way. Keep in touch, she would – one way or another.

* * *

><p>"Where will you go?" the Doctor asked River. He watched her, a few steps ahead of him, standing at the edge of a heather-filled hill on Earth. Her hair was lightly whipped by the wind, hands loose at her sides, expression distant. Her gun holster was loose on her hips, sagging to one side, stance tall and almost majestic. She looked like a bird, ready to take off from a cliff.<p>

Her shoulders rolled in a shrug. "Oh, I don't know. The only thing I know is that I'm tired of prison. We'll see what I do. Maybe I'll hang out on Earth for a bit. Not exactly home to me, but it's a good place. It's where I grew up. Maybe I'll find something for me here."

"Maybe," he agreed shortly. Something about leaving her here, of all places, seemed a bit off. It wasn't the normal thing to be doing when it came to River. With her, he expected – and had gotten used to – high-security facilities and shady back doors where the people watched him with shifty, knowing eyes. Still, she seemed sort of serene, and at the very least happy with where she was.

"What _is_ there to do on Earth?" she mused. "It's been awhile. I certainly won't be getting a job, dear me, to say the least. Now that would just be awful. Maybe I can find a nice little alien organization of sorts? Nothing like Torchwood or UNIT, no, I'm thinking smaller scale. There's got to be some others besides Sarah Jane who know what they're doing. That might be fun. Protecting the Earth, just like the Doctor. Then again, I was never one to follow in your shadow."

"No, you weren't," he gave her a laugh, if a small one. "Are you sure you want to stay here?" he tapped the TARDIS. "It's not like she's low on power – I can take you wherever you want."

"Where I'd like to go is where that crystal came from," she muttered dryly. "Now that would be an adventure. Any alternate universe to have something like _that_ living in it would truly be a sight to see."

"Probably dangerous," he said. "But I'd like to see it too."

This was where they were the same: a beast of chaos, a true element of death and danger, and neither could resist hunting it down. If only he could move around the Void, slip between the rules of time and space and take a visit to this universe... if only... He shook his head; such thoughts were dangerous. They'd been dangerous with Rose, so long ago, and they were dangerous now. No rifts would be opened in the time space continuum just so he could see the source of the chaos. That wasn't allowed and he knew it.

"You love her, don't you Doctor?" she asked suddenly, catching him off-guard. He started slightly, hand finding the edge of the TARDIS, having been deeply lost in his thoughts. Some well-hidden human instinct wanted him to ask who, but of course he knew the answer. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her business, but technically it was, and he knew that would be her reply. For a moment, he was the one who was uncertain what to say.

"Well River, it's hardly like I see her much. The same goes for you."

"That doesn't matter. If you love her, you do. I won't be hurt."

He was quiet, and she continued, musing half to herself. "Can Timelords even love at all? _I_ think they can. You love this planet, for a start. You love other species, or at the very least want to protect them. You love fighting for the innocent. You love your TARDIS. But do you love her? That, I wonder."

The wind reached a fantastic epiphany of chance and chose to blow fiercely past the two of them, like a barrier separating the Doctor from her. He waited in silence for it to calm before speaking. "I wouldn't worry much about it."

She turned to look at him, grinning slightly. "Doctor, I'd be careful. If I didn't know any better, I'd daresay your emotions have been left out on your sleeve."

He blinked, and in the second that it took, she'd began walking forward down the hill. For a second he was surprised, even a bit stunned. He let himself revel in that moment as he watched River Song walk away. He huffed under his breath, pushing the TARDIS door open. "Goodbye to you too, then."


	29. Chapter 29 Grounded

I'll leave you to it.

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><p>"Well, I'll be going then Doctor," Martha sighed. Behind her lay her brother's house, quiet and peaceful, sitting there in wait. Since they'd been on Earth almost the whole time, and timelines couldn't be crossed, it was about three days or so since this whole thing had began. She knew he'd be wondering where she'd been.<p>

"There's nothing you're worried about?" he said suspiciously, leaning against the open doorframe of the TARDIS. "No confusions? No questions to ask?"

She turned, looking at him, eyes narrowed. "What? What did I miss?"

He smiled, ever so slightly. "When you showed up in the TARDIS, and all the power was out. D'you remember how I knew that you had that crystal piece with you?"

She blinked. "I'd forgotten about that, but... I had been wondering."

He looked away, and for a moment seemed happy, almost even pleased with himself, but it quickly faded. "I won. I combined the crystal into one again by reversing its own power on itself and then killing it by letting it live. It was brilliant, really. But I cheated."

"How do you mean?"

"I wasn't certain of success at all this time," he said, almost sadly. "In fact, I was certain I would fail. So I did something very dangerous, and I risked destroying us all. With a clever and unsafe bit of time travel, I went ahead so I could see what had happened. A few minutes after Rory and I switched back, I went into the future so I would know how to win."

Martha listened to this in silence, eyes wide. He had always been telling her, all the time, that they could never just leave a place, or go into the future to try and help, because they would be crossing their own timestreams and possibly blow up the universe. But now, with extreme care, he'd managed to do it, because for once he didn't believe in himself.

"Second time I've done it," He said, tone short and clipped. "The first was during that whole thing with Bad Wolf," he shook his head. "After we all went outside, and Rose was gone, when she'd jumped... After I stormed off, I went into the TARDIS, and I went ahead. Not to cheat or anything, not to see what to do, no. I'd had my suspicions from the beginning of who was messing with us. It had nothing to do with that. It was just so that I could know she was okay. Just so that I knew she made it out alright."

"That's okay, Doctor," she tried. "You knew what you were doing. Sure, the time travel was dangerous and advanced, but you knew what you were doing."

He smiled at her dangerously, eyes sparkling. "Not the first time. I was mad; an angry, enraged alien with no idea what he was doing. But you're right. I suppose I had a better chance this time 'round."

"I've got to go," she said, because it was true. The longer she hovered here, the better chance of her brother seeing her, and then wondering who was with her and the TARDIS, then wanting to know why he'd changed... she couldn't deal with that, and neither could he. Her time was up.

He nodded, not dismally, but... there was a level of despair in the motion that didn't go unnoticed by her. "Careful, Martha. Don't do anything too drastic for UNIT."

"Wasn't planning on it," she smiled, and he returned the gesture, a true one, with no hidden motives or shadowy guilts.

"Bye, Doctor," Martha Jones said, unable to stop her step from springing as she walked off.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS hummed quietly. Its gears shifted with gentle <em>hush, hush<em> noises, circuits pulsing with unimaginable power within them. Little pockets of steam hissed quietly in hidden corners; diodes and miniscule knobs on the console winked in and out of view. The great piece of machinery in the main column pulsed up and down steadily, never hesitating or glitching in its endless pattern. The machine's lights glowed steadily.

The Doctor stood, watching all this from the foot of the stairs by the door. After an endless moment, he stepped forward and began to walk, almost waltz, around the console, dragging one hand along its edge as he went. A lever flung forward as he passed it; a light in the corner of the room winked twice; a few flashing buttons changed their lighting pattern. Each of these subtle changes emitted an equally subtle response from the Doctor – grazing his hand along his cheek, flipping his hair back, even smiling ever so slightly.

The floor seamlessly flowed through many subtle color changes, moving with an unseen rhythm that was both beautiful and mesmerizing. The Doctor's shoes slipped across it like leaves through the eddies of a stream. The walls seemed to reflect the low light around it, emanating a steady, cold blue color, like great, tall structures of ice. Although silence reigned, the machine seemed to whirr with a steady tempo, as though playing its own sad, quiet song.

It was a bit of a dance, between man and machine, and it seemed to go on for many a year before finally he stopped, standing still. His hand fell from the console, but he seemed to watch the point where it had once been, as though waiting for something. "Well old girl, what do you say?" he asked finally, hands going to his pockets. "I think we should go after that Dalek, if you don't mind."

With grace and ease, the gears crunched; the machine sprung to life. They were on their way.


	30. Author's Note

We're done! It's over! Huzzah! We have reached the point of quest completion!

But really guys, there's nothing I can say to express my gratitude that you stuck to this story. It certainly took me much longer to finish than Lost Companions had, and I'm glad that you all could be here to help me through it. I would have no chance of success without your support, love, reviews, and yes, ego-petting.

Now, as for the future of Sailor Kasterborous...

A few of you might be aware that my profile mentions I have a Sailor Moon story in progress. Well, I did. Then I re-read it, realized I hated it, and ended up utterly uncertain as to what I should do for quite some time. Well, y'know, a promise is a promise, and I did in fact promise a story, so I have to deliver. And anyways, "Sailor" is in my username for god's sake. I can't really live up to that until I... live up to it. *cough*

But, I do have plenty of plans for Doctor Who stories, which I will get to as soon as I can. I just have to cover my Senshi buddies first. I actually might to a oneshot for all you Whovians before I get into that... we'll see.

Be sure to subscribe to my story feed, and watch out for more! I LOVE ALL OF YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN DESCRIBE. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, ARIZONA INDEPENDENCE, WHATEVER. I LOVE YOU. So much.


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